180 Diseases of the Circulatory System. 
relief. Usually the dog appears to be dull, heavy, out of 
condition, and his coat is rough, and the skin sometimes 
has an unpleasant odour. 
Treatment.—Aged animals should be destroyed by 
inhaling an overdose of chloroform, the most humane 
method of depriving them of life. In recent cases, when 
the animal is especially valuable, slight inhalations of 
chloroform, or the administration of chloric ether in 
doses of five to fifteen drops in a teaspoonful of water, 
may afford the needed relief. In less urgent cases one 
or other of the Expectorant formule will be useful as 
daily medicine. A hot bath, or stimulating liniment 
to the sides is also useful in cases of more or less urgency. 
In those of less severity, the patient being young, daily 
exercise is of great importance, the diet of flesh must be 
reduced, and vegetables substituted for the deficiency, or 
Sprat’s Fibrine and Beetroot cakes may form the entire 
diet for some time. The action of the skin should be 
induced by regular cleansing and the use of the brush 
and comb. Aperients are called for to promote regular 
action of the bowels. Avoid such causes as cold and 
damp, especially while the health is precarious. 
CHAPTER XII. 
DISEASES OF THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM. 
Fatty Degeneration of the Heart—Rupture of the Heart—Valvular Disease— 
Pericarditis—Invasion by Parasites. 
‘THE organs engaged in the circulation of the blood in 
canine animals are not subject to an extended list of 
maladies, as in the horse, for instance. ‘The circum- 
stances of food especially bring the dog within the limits 
of a special susceptibility to disease of the digestive track, 
but changes in the system of breeding, especially with 
