210 . CANINE DISTEMPER 
reserved for the chapter on “ Therapeutics”; for no 
work would be complete without reference to this most 
important method of treating disease. Antitoxic treatment 
is that which neutralises the toxin already circulating in 
the blood before it has entered into combination with 
the tissues. Most sera are anti-microbic, and bring 
about destruction of the microbes, thereby preventing 
them from forming toxin. 
It has been claimed that considerable benefit may 
result in the treatment of distemper by the inoculation 
of immune serum, though it is recommended that this 
should be accompanied by inoculations of anti-distemper 
vaccine. It may sometimes be a matter of uncertainty 
as to whether a bacterial vaccine or a serum should be 
used in a given case, and the former may occasionally be 
administered when the latter would be more suitable. 
Sera give the best results in acute general infections, 
when the condition of the patient is such that it cannot 
produce its own antibodies, and it is necessary to supply 
them by the injection of antitoxin or anti-bacterial 
serum. 
At the onset of an infectious process, however, the 
disturbance is generally local, and at such a time the 
prompt use of a suitable bacterial vaccine is indicated. 
Thus the nature of an infection is the guide as to 
whether a serum or bacterin should be employed, the 
former being indicated in general infections, and the 
latter in localised or semi-localised infections. Too often 
the case is not seen until the dog is so ill that its system 
can scarcely respond to a vaccine and produce sufficient 
antibodies to combat the toxins produced by the infecting 
microbes. In such a case the supply of antibodies ready 
formed—as provided in anti-distemper serum—will be of 
great value. 
Many sera, notably those of Piorkowski and Ligniéres, 
