198 CANINE DISTEMPER 
If the fits follow one another very rapidly, thereby 
becoming very exhausting, chloroform may be ad- 
ministered to obtain an immediate effect. Provision 
must be made to prevent the dog from injuring itself. 
A convenient and ready-made nerve sedative is the 
Bromide Compound Elixir (Parke, Davis), containing 
pot. brom., chloral, ext. cannabis indica, and ext. 
-hyoscyamus, the Indian hemp of which is standardised 
by physiological test. If chloral hydrate is given alone, 
it must be either very well diluted or suspended in 
mucilage, owing to its excoriating effect on mucous 
membranes. 
When the convulsive fits appear for the first time very 
late in the disease, the matter is much more ominous, 
and we usually see chorea or paralysis as a sequel. 
Chorea.—Subjects of severe chorea seldom regain their 
normal health, but in moderate cases I have known 
quite a number to absolutely recover, even though the 
‘process may have extended over quite a considerable 
time, from one or two months to as many years. 
Whether the results can have been ascribed to the 
treatment applied or to Mother Nature, is difficult to tell, 
but my remedies have been restricted to the administra- 
tion of nerve and other tonics—such as Easton’s Syrup, 
triple syrup, glycerophosphates with iron, arsenic, 
quinine, and phosphorus, etc.—combined with fresh air, 
hygienic surroundings, liberal and nutritious meat diet, 
with a fair proportion of milk or other fatty matter. 
These nerve stimulants, however, must not be employed 
until the animal has thoroughly lost all other traces of 
distemper and regained its former strength to a large 
extent. Then a course of Easton’s Syrup may be tried, 
starting with small doses and slowly increasing them to 
the maximum permitted for the particular breed of dog. 
For instance, a King Charles spaniel would take as a 
