560 
ON EPIZOOTIC INFLAMMATION 
throwing him into water, inflammation of the stomach and the 
liver appear together, and the symptoms of both diseases are 
visible, as yellowness of the integument and mucous membrane, 
retching or real vomiting, loss of appetite, fever, costiveness, or 
diarrhoea, and the discharge of a dark yellow urine, &c. The 
disease runs its course in from twelve to twenty-four hours after 
its first attack, or the animal is often dead in from four to six 
days. 
Delaguette says, that dogs suffering under inflammation of the 
stomach have always a disposition to bite men or animals, and 
that the disease may often be discovered by noticing this.’^ I 
have never remarked this. That the diseased dog would doubt¬ 
less bite another who attempted to take his food from him, I 
will not deny; and so would any other dog: he might also 
threaten to bite the veterinary surgeon whom he did not know, 
and whose examination of him might give him pain. 
Rabies, which has often been confounded with this disease, 
may be easily distinguished from it by the following symptoms: 
disposition to bite—the swallowing of inproper and indigestible 
bodies—and particularly by palsy of the lower jaw, and the 
peculiar bark. If a dog shews a disposition to eat small chalky 
or sandy stones, and grass and flowers, it may not be on account 
of disease, and is easily to be distinguished from the unconsci¬ 
ous swallowing of foreign bodies observable in mad dogs. 
Duration, Course, and Conclusion. —The duration and 
course of these diseases are deceptive, since they proceed so insi¬ 
diously that they have usually existed for six or eight days 
before the owner of the animal perceives any marks of disease 
or seeks any aid. By this time an acute disease of the liver has 
taken place; then comes retching or vomiting, and, shortly after¬ 
wards, inflammation of the stomach, which is followed in about 
three days by death. The duration of these diseases is, in gene¬ 
ral, about fourteen days. 
The disease terminates in congestion of blood in the liver, or gra¬ 
dual restoration to health. This latter can only take place in 
cases where the inflammation has proceeded very slowly—where 
the disease could be discovered by debility, slight yellowness 
of the skin, and fever—and where speedy recourse has been had 
to medical aid. 
Causes .—The predisposing causes of the disease are often diffi¬ 
cult to discover. That the dog in warm climates has, on account 
of his large liver and choleric temperament, a natural disposition 
to take on these diseases, is well known. As exciting causes 
may be reckoned atmospheric influence in connexion with local 
circumstances, sultry days, and cold nights, damp weather, thun- 
