394 The Management aud Diseases of the Dog. 
“ Thus, in 1851 or 1852, a severe outbreak of the latter 
disease occurred in Tasmania, which swept off two o1 three 
membérs in every family; at the same time, according to 
the report of the Australian Royal Commission on Diph- 
theria, all the dogs died of distemper. There may have 
been some morbid influence at work which favoured the 
genesis and extension while it added to the virulency of 
both scourges ; but beyond this we cannot at present go, 
for if we remember aright, dogs perished about the same 
timé in great numbers from distemper in New Zealand and 
Australia—even the dingoes, or native wild dogs, being 
found dead in multitudes in the scrub ; and yet we cannot 
ascertain that diphtheria was at all prevalent, or even pre- 
sent, in these countries at that period. 
“To our knowledge, there is only one instance of a case 
in which accidental transmission of the disease from man 
to an inferior animal appears likely to have occurred, and 
this is alluded to by Dr.. Sir J. Rose Cormack, in the 
Lancet for April 24th of the present year. It is related 
by Professor Bossi in the ‘Giornale di Medicina Veterinaria . 
Pratica d’Agricoltura,’ and is to the following effect: ‘A 
friend who had lost a child by diphtheria, after a few days’ 
illness, requested me to visit a very beautiful small-breed 
greyhound about one year old, which had become unwell a 
few days after swallowing some of the child’s excreta, and 
some remains of food which had been served to him. On 
making a careful examination of the dog, Bossi found it in 
a state of great prostration ; languid look, lachrymant 
eyes, and open mouth copiously discharging a viscid 
fluid ; quick sibilant breathing, hoarse voice, full, hard, 
rapid pulse ; the neck so stretched as to be almost rigid ; 
and difficulty in deglutition. By digital examination, 
the throat was discovered to be cedematous, and the seat 
of severe pain. On opening the mouth—a difficult opera- 
tion—the mucous membrane of the fauces was seen to be 
red and swollen, and two ulcers were on the veil of the 
