474 ATONIC DISEASES. 



likely to be of service is the use of the hot-bath, which in young: 

 and delicate puppies may sometimes give relief. Fits, arising in 

 distemper, are caused by absolute mischief in the brain, unless 

 they occur as a consequence of worms, which will also produce 

 them at other times, and are nearly as often the cause as teething. 

 In such cases, these parasites being removed, the fits cease. 



In apoplectic fits the dog lies insensible, or nearly so, without 

 foaming at the mouth, but snoring and breathing heavily. Here 

 the treatment must be conducted by taking away blood from the 

 neck-vein, afterwards purging by means of croton oil, and inserting 

 a seton in the back of the neck. The attack, however, is gene- 

 rally fatal, in spite of the most scientific treatment. 



Epilepsy may be distinguished by the blueness of the lips and 

 gums, and by the constant champing of the jaws and frothing at 

 * the mouth, which constantly accompany its attacks. The fit eomes 

 on without any notice, frequently in sporting dogs while they are 

 at work, a hot day being specially provocative of it. In the 

 pointer and setter, the fit almost always occurs just after a, " point," 

 the excitement of which seems to act upon the brain in producing 

 it. The dog falls directly the birds are sprung, and after lying 

 struggling for a few minutes, or perhaps a quarter of an hour, 

 rises, looking wildly about him, and then sitting or lying down 

 again for a few minutes, he is ready to go to work again, appa- 

 rently unconscious of anything having been the matter. As in 

 chorea so in epilepsy, nothing is known of the cause, and the treat- 

 ment is therefore guided by the most empirical principles. "Within 

 the last ten years bromide of potassium has been used with great 

 success in the human subject, but although I have recommended 

 its use in many cases on the dog, I have not heard the result. 

 The dose for a moderate-sized animal is 3 grs. twice a day in a 

 pill, continued for a month at least. 



