DISTEMPEH. 91 



had not received the amount of scientific attention its importance 

 deserved. Nearly every gamekeeper and kennelman believes himself 

 possessed of an unfailing cure for it ; but those who know most of 

 its versatile character and dangerous complications are the most 

 cautious in prognosticating a cure, and the most careful in watching 

 the altering symptoms, and varying their treatment to meet the 

 individual case. 



Distemper, when first observed, appeared as an occasional epi- 

 demic ; and no doubt it stiU, to a considerable extent, sustains that 

 character, raging in certain districts whilst other parts of the 

 country are comparatively free. But I do not think it is now so 

 markedly epidemic as formerly ; in fact, it may be said to be general 

 and perenniaJ, always existing more or less all over the country; and 

 this is to be accounted for by the vastly increased intercourse 

 between dogs from great distances brought together by the numerous 

 shows held. It is well known that distemper breaks out in numbers 

 of kennels after some shows, especially those that are prolonged, 

 and where puppy classes are encouraged ; in fact, each one of these 

 shows, as at present regulated, may be described as a centre from 

 which disease is disseminated to aU quarters. The spread of 

 distemper is also now well provided for by the immense traffic 

 in dogs, these animals by hundreds, if not thousands, changing 

 hands every week, being sent to and fro between all parts of the 

 pountry, and often in railway dog boxes constructed apparently so 

 as best to insure the healthy occupant becoming infected with the 

 ailment of his diseased predecessor, while that end is further secured 

 by the dirty state in which the boxes are frequently kept. Occasion- 

 ally, too, distemper is imported by ferrets suffering from the disease. 



Young dogs — those in their puppyhood, that is to say, under 

 twelve months old — are most subject to distemper ; but the disease 

 attacks dogs of mature age. As a general rule, one attack gives 

 immunity from a subsequent one, yet there are instances of dogs 

 suffering a second time, and Blaine says even a third time. A good 

 many instances have come under my own observation oonfirmatoi-y 

 of this view, and it is the more necessary to notice it because the 

 popular belief is that a dog never has distemper more than once. 



It is a very common opinion that certain breeds of dogs are 

 peculiarly liable to this disease, but it is not the special inheritance 

 of any one or two varieties : the whole domesticated race of dogs 

 suffer from it. Fatality under distemper is not a question of breed, 

 but of constitution, as that has been affected by a more or less arti- 

 ficial Ufe, and a forced and unnatural system of breeding. It is the 

 highly-bred dog, not the mongrel, that is apt to suffer most severely ; 

 and tiiia would be far more manifest were it not for the contrast in 



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