418 ATONIC DISEASES. 
or castor oil, in two or three hours. - Of the oil, from ten to twenty 
drops are the dose, mixed up with linseed meal and water, and one- 
half given at night, the remainder next morning, followed in an 
hour by a dose of castor oil. 
GENERAL DROPSY (Anasarca). 
General Dropsy consists in serum infiltrated into the cellular 
membrane, beneath the skin of the whole body, as shown by 
swelling without redness, and “ pitting” on the pressure of the 
finger being removed. The immediate cause is to be looked for 
either in general debility, by which the serum is not absorbed in 
due course, or from defective action of the kidneys, by which the 
blood is overcharged with it. More remotely, improper stimulants 
or gross food will produce it, especially in foul and dirty kennels, 
and in old and worn-out dogs when the liver is deficient in activity.. 
The treatment must vary with the cause, and it is therefore important 
that this should be ascertained at once. Thus, in case there is 
merely general debility, tonics (62) or (63) will be the proper 
remedies. If the kidneys are in fault, but merely torpid, the 
diuretic bolus (40) or (41) may be relied on; while if they have 
been inflamed, the treatment proper to that disease (see page 398) 
must be resorted to. Sometimes, in a broken-down constitution, 
when the urine is mixed with blood, small doses of cantharides 
may be found beneficial, as advised by Mayhew; but these cases 
are so difficult to distinguish, that it is only when veterinary aid 
cannot be obtained that I should advise the use of this drug. The 
dose is two to three drops in water twice a day. 
‘Tincture of cantharides, 2 drops. 
Spirit of nitric ether, 15 drops. 
Water, 1 oz. 
Mix and give as a drench twice a day. 
