64 THE MANAGEMENT AND DISEASES OF THE DOG. 



full length on the belly, on the coldest spot he is able to find. 

 A moan or pitiful whine is given utterance to from time to 

 time, and the expression of the face is indicative of pain. 



As the disease proceeds the countenance becomes exceed^ 

 ingly anxious, the moans more frequent, and the search for 

 relief continuous. Severe rigors, cold extremities, sunken 

 eye, a rapid and almost imperceptible pulse, sudden cessa- 

 tion of pain, denote that gangrene has set in, and the poor 

 sufferer dies gradually and quietly or in delirium. 



A post-mortem examination reveals intense redness, either in 

 patches or diffused, of the mucous membrane, with softening 

 of its structure and sometimes sloughing. If the disease has 

 been caused by the action of some corrosive agent, perfora- 

 tion of all the coats of the stomach, with extensive sloughing, 

 will generally be found. 



Treatment. — The less the patient is disturbed the better. 

 In the early stages leeches may be applied over the region of 

 the stomach. Cold \vater should be allowed ad libitum, for 

 nothing is more grateful to the sufferer and so easily retained 

 in the stornach, which, it must ever be borne in mind, is ex- 

 ceedingly sensitive under all conditions. Nourishment is 

 best administered in the form of mucilaginous drinks, as 

 barley-water, arrowroot, or broth thickened with isinglass or 

 rice. Such matters, being bland, have Ihe double effect of 

 soothing and protecting the irritated mucous membrane, and 

 giving to the patient at the same time the support required.* 



* Ballard observes : " In prescribing a diet in oversensitive conditions of 

 the stomach, it must be recollected that the food which comes into contact 

 ■with the interior of the organ is to be regarded much in the same light as 

 a local application made to tender parts of the body ; and as we should 

 avoid bringing in contact with the latter any but bland and unirritating 

 dressings, so with the former a similar principle must guide us, and we 

 must select such matters only, and in such quantities as, while they are 

 fitted to sustain the body, would be unirritating if applied to an external 

 sore, and which experience has shown may be used, introduced into the 

 sensitive stomach without producing pain or distress. 



" In inflammatory and ulcerative conditions of the stomach, where the 



