44 CANINE DISTEMPER 
Seasonal Influences—Finally, there are seasonal in- 
fluences to be contended with, for dogs—like human 
beings—are more prone to fall ill in moist, muggy, and 
changeable weather than they are in fine warm or 
even fine cold weather. This is presumably why dis- 
temper is more prevalent in the spring and autumn, 
seasons which are fickle and trying. The exceptionally 
dry warm summer experienced during 1921 did not by 
any means increase the number of cases of distemper, 
as might have been expected by some observers, but my 
experience was that it occasioned a noticeable decrease. 
In Youatt’s opinion distemper frequently follows 
mange; “in fact, if he treated such a case of skin 
disease, he would certainly expect the dog to contract 
distemper as a general routine.” There is, however, no 
connection whatever between the two maladies, and the 
only justification for Youatt’s assertion is that mange is 
frequently a debilitating disease, and might thereby 
figure as a predisposing cause like any of the other 
circumstances mentioned above. 
