INTRODUCTION. 3 



for the full complement of teeth granted by nature, and 

 some all but entirely refuse their natural flesh food and 

 become as pampered and fastidious in their diet as human 

 epicures. 



But man's interference with the works of nature has 

 not been without its drawbacks. As the varieties of the 

 dog are so numerous and his uses so varied, we find that 

 his diseases and accidents are very important and diver- 

 sified. Whereas the hunting dog generally suffers little 

 from disease and much from accidents to which his reiving 

 habits expose him, and spends his life in a state of hard 

 " condition," at the other extreme we find the ladies' lap- 

 dog, whose stomach refuses all but the most delicate 

 morsels artificially prepared, whose limbs can scarcely 

 support his weight, whose natural atmosphere is that of 

 a close and heated room, and who has become petulant 

 and snappish through the enervating influence of his 

 surroundings. It is commonly said that so diverse are 

 the manners of dogs of the sporting and fancy breeds, 

 that he who is competent to treat the diseases of the one 

 is not best adapted to deal with those of the other. This 

 is not correct. The science and practice of canine 

 pathology is applicable to all dogs — for " a dog is a dog 

 all the world over." The skilful practitioner duly con- 

 siders all the special features of each case, both in the 

 determination of the nature of an attack and in the adop- 

 tion of proper remedial measures. He certainly has a 

 very difficult task, for in no branch of medical practice are 

 the cases more obscure, the action and doses of medicines 

 more complicated, and the niceties of treatment more 

 elaborate than in canine surgery and medicine. 



It may well be asked whether the practitioner of human 

 medicine or of veterinary surgery is the more competent to 

 treat the dog when diseased. On the one hand, it may be 

 urged that the dog is now practically an omnivore ; he 

 lives in such close association with man that he is affected 

 by like disease-producing influences and is exposed to the 

 same contingencies of life. On the other, that the educa- 

 tion and practice of the veterinarian is the more universal 



