196. . CANINE DISTEMPER 
Much may be done, however, for the relief of costive- 
ness by the judicious selection of foods, and frequently 
no resort need be had to drugs or other agents whatever. 
The continued use of moist foods, such as biscuits soaked. 
in warm water or soup, will often prove all that is 
necessary ; or the principal meal may consist of biscuit 
moistened with soup, and a proportion of green vegetable 
and. meat added. Meat and liver are laxative, and if 
mixed with brown bread, greens, and broth, they usually 
form an efficient aperient of themselves, especially if any 
exercise can simultaneously be taken, which is not, how- 
ever, the case in distemper. 
A teaspoonful to a tablespoonful of salad oil given 
alone or added to the food once daily for several days is. 
harmless and often quite useful. 
Many dog owners labour under the mistaken impres- 
sion that a lump of sulphur placed in the animal’s drink- 
ing water regulates its bowels and “ purifies its blood.” 
Sulphur is insoluble in cold water, thus to exert any 
laxative effect it must be taken internally either in pill or 
powder form. 
Jaundice.—lf jaundice appears during the course of the. 
malady we must aim at eliminating its cause—viz., duo-. 
denal catarrh—and the relief of any accompanying consti- 
pation by the administration of saline laxatives and warm 
enemas. Calomel in small but. frequent doses (3 to 
2 grain) has been well recommended on account of its 
emetic property and of its intestinal disinfectant action. 
Miller and Glass advocate the mechanical emptying. of 
the gall-bladder by pressure of the abdomen between the 
fingers, or by faradisation—ze., the therapeutic use of 
induced currents applied in the region of the liver on 
both sides of the abdomen for ten minutes at a time. 
twice daily. Other helpful remedies are massage or the 
application of counter-irritants, such as linseed poultices 
