150 CANINE MEDICINE AND SURGERY 



conjunctivas; and the eyes appear unusually sensi- 

 tive to light. 



A short, dry, husky cough and sneezing occur, 

 especially when the animal is brought into the open 

 air. The discharge from the eyes and nose gradu- 

 ally becomes more purulent, sticking the nostrils 

 and eyelids together, causing the patient much dis- 

 comfort and inconvenience and interfering with 

 respiration, and resulting in constant efforts to clear 

 the nostrils which produce that peculiar noise that 

 has earned for the disease the popular name above 

 mentioned. In many cases the eyes are seriously 

 affected. 



A small bluish-white opacity may be observed 

 which gradually widens and deepens until an ulcer 

 is formed. This ulcer, which, by perforating the an- 

 terior layers of the cornea, may cause the con- 

 dition known as staphyloma or may even allow the 

 aqueous humor of the eye to escape. Such cases, 

 although of alarming appearance, usually do 

 well under appropriate treatment, although in some 

 cases of extreme severity some slight opacity of the 

 cornea may remain. As the progress of the disease 

 advances, special symptoms present themselves, de- 

 pending upon what organ or organs are chiefly 

 involved. However, a constant and unvarying 

 symptom in all cases of distemper, irrespective of 

 local complications, is rapid emaciation and loss of 

 strength. 



In cases where the respiratory tract is chiefly 

 involved the symptoms of bronchopneumonia pre- 

 dominate. When the digestive tract is the subject 

 of serious invasion, digestive disturbances are em- 

 phasized and there is vomiting, profuse watery and 

 offensive diarrhea, and in many instances an icterus. 



When the central nervous system is involved 



