salt or any kind of seasoning, the beef-tea is ready for your 

 canine patients. However, we will say no more of sick dogs 

 at present ; they will be treated of presently. 



Feed your dog once a day, and do not give him his food on a 

 plate. That is a politeness he can very well dispense with ; 

 besides that, his health will be advantaged by a waiving of 

 such ceremony. Throw hiTn his meat on the floor — ^not on to 

 a paved or plank floor, but on the earth. The quantity of 

 the latter he will swallow with his meat wiU not hurt him : 

 on the contrary, it will stimulate his intestines. Feed him 

 reguloA-ly. Befleot on your own case, and on what an annoying, I 

 not to say painful, thing it is to be kept hungry two or three I 

 hours after your customary dinner-time, and be merciful. As 

 to the quantity of food with which a dog should be supplied, I 

 it is impossible to direct, as, like men, no two dogs eat alike, 

 and many a healthy little dog will comfortably stow away 

 as much as would serve a big dog for two meals. The 

 owner of a dog, however, may easily ascertain the wholesome I 

 limit of his dog's appetite. Set before him in a comer, where 

 he will not be disturbed, an ample allowance, or more, and, 

 unobserved, keep your eye on him. If he be in health, he' 

 wiU set to, and not abate his industry till he feels comfort- 

 ably full; then he will raise his head, and move away from 

 the remnants. Marking this, and to save him eating to re- 

 pletion, as he certainly will, if allowed, you will remove what 

 is left, and so learn what should be his regular allowance. 



A large, hard bone thrown to the dog very frequently wiU 

 be useful to hiTn ; not for the sake of what he may pick off 

 it — indeed, the less there is on it the better — ^but to keep 

 his teeth in order. Concerning bones generally, however, the 

 remarks of Mr. Edward Mayhew may be studied with profit. 

 " A dog in strong health may digest an occasional meal of 

 bones ; but the ' pet ' has generally a weak, and often a 

 diseased stomach, which would be irritated hj what would 

 otherwise do no harm. The animal, nevertheless, true to its 

 instincts, has always an inclination to swallow such substances, 

 provided its teeth can break off a piece of convenient size for 

 deglutition. Game and chicken bones, which are readily 

 crushed, should therefore be withheld, for not unfrequently is 

 choking caused by pieces sticking in the oesophagus ; though 

 more often is vomiting induced by irritation of the stomach, 

 or serious impactment of the posterior intestine ensues upon 

 the feebleness of the digestion." 



