18 GENERAL EXAMINATION. 



indigestible objects (wood, coal, bits of cloth) or even gnawing or 

 licking them, with a staggering gait, will change an existing sus- 

 picion to a certainty 



Further, we have the uncontrollable movements fthich are 

 caused by changes in the physical condition; they appear in dis- 

 eases of the cerebellum, and in certain forms of poisoning — for 

 instance, when cocaine is used. Dulness or total indifference to 

 external influences, a staring expression of the eye, a slow, stag- 

 gering gait, sleepiness or coma (entire unconsciousness) are recog- 

 nized in the diverse diseases of the brain and its coverings, from 

 injury or shock of the skull, in serious infectious diseases (dis- 

 temper and septicaemia), also in poisoning by some narcotics, in 

 ursemia, and during the acute period of many diseases. In some 

 instances we see a short attack of unconsciousness, which occurs 

 during great excitement or pain; we may also see an impaired 

 condition of the senses as a secondary complication in diseases of 

 the brain. For further information on this subject, see the article 

 on Examination of the Nervous System. In making an ex- 

 amination of the physical condition we must always take into 

 consideration the fact that symptoms may be very much modified 

 by the presence of strangers or the veterinarian, so as to hide 

 very serious symptoms from the professional man. 



Very sick animals will not rise when called by a stranger, or 

 even by the owner if the stranger is present; while a healthy ani- 

 mal will rise or bark or show its presence in various ways. The 

 position of the animal when lying down is, to a certain extent, a 

 diagnostic symptom. Dogs which are affected by lateral or one- 

 sided diseases of the chest (for instance, lateral pneumonia, pleu- 

 risy) like to lie on the affected side, but they may also lie on the 

 healthy side; while those cases where there is difficult or labored 

 respiration, as in pleurisy and hydrothorax or double pneumonia, 

 they take a sitting position or lie on the sternum with the legs 

 under the body. 



The development of the skeleton may be used as a basis for 

 determining what sort of constitution the animal has ; at the same 

 time, taking into consideration the great differences there are in 

 form between the different breeds of dogs, in the strength and 

 shape of the bones, we can frequently obtain some diagnostic in- 

 formation concerning a defective constitution from the following 



