212 THE DISEASES OF THE DOG. 



doses have been given with benefit in this stage. Blaine 

 advocates the cold bath and Hill the hot ; enemata are 

 certainly useful. The iron salts are beneficial, especially 

 in the more confirmed cases, and cod-liver oil may be given 

 as a nutrient tonic ; but nitrate of silver (half grain) and 

 strychnia (one tenth grain), long continued and given with 

 caution, are the only agents likely to benefit in confirmed 

 cases. Good and carefully selected, well-prepared food 

 must be administered throughout the attack. The prospect 

 of recovery is best in young patients. 



Cramp is a physiological condition known as tonic 

 spasm of a limited number of muscular fibres either 

 of the involuntary or voluntary character. This may be 

 a result of conditions either of the muscle, nerve, or 

 central nervous organ. It is seen in rheumatism, in some 

 forms of poisoning, and in dogs exposed to cold when 

 heated by exertion or when swimming. The hind limbs 

 are most frequently affected. It is acutely painful. The 

 anti-spasmodic dose resorted to in such cases should con- 

 sist of opium, ether, and camphor. The patient should 

 be put in a warm bath and afterwards wrapped up in 

 flannel. The cramp soon disappears, but is liable to recur. 

 A timely dose of alcohol and local friction will be bene- 

 ficial. Dogs liable to cramp should be kept in dry warm 

 kennels. 



Tetanus, as Blaine shows, is extremely rare in the dog, 

 and that thoughtful comparative pathologist pertinently 

 remarks that this is an extraordinary fact considering the 

 liability of the dog to nervous disorders. The most 

 familiar form is the opisthotonos induced by strychnia 

 poisoning, in which the limbs are rigid and quivering, the 

 jaws fixed, often biting the tongue, the back spasmodically 

 curved so that the head and tail are elevated and remain 

 so. The animal is in acute agony, and the angles 

 of the mouth retracted, giving the expression a sardonic 

 grin. After death the body is so stiff that it may be held 

 out straight by the tail, and it does not decompose readily. 

 Youatt gives an account of two cases in which the body 

 was curled to one side {pleurosthotonos). Both idiopathic 



