CANINE DISTEMPER. 
639 
mer than in winter. In cases free from complications this is 
followed by a slight fever, dullness and loss of appetite, which 
lasts for about four days, the. temperature rarely rising above 
103 b. At the end of this time the eruption conies out, 
usually upon the soft parts of the skin and in most cases only 
in the inguinal region. This eruption may pass through the 
various stages of erythema, vesicle, pustule and ulcer, although 
it is frequently seen simply as an erythema and sometimes only 
in the form of a vesicle. The eruption does not penetrate the 
deeper layers of the skin, as we see in variola in the horse and 
sheep, but is entirely superficial. When the eruption comes 
out the fever drops, the appetite returns and the vesicles scale 
off m about two days. Then comes a secondary eruption, which 
scales off in two days and disappears. There is then a period of 
convalescence, which lasts for about six days, so that the whole 
attack, if uncomplicated, will last about eighteen days. In 
highly-bred dogs the first fever may be very high and we may 
have death occurring due to repercussion, the eruption appear¬ 
ing internally as an intense congestion on the respiratory tract 
or on the intestinal tract, causing fatal gastro-enteritis. Death 
may also occur from irritation produced by the pustules. One 
attack usually conveys immunity, although some dogs will con¬ 
tract the disease a second time, and we have observed one case 
in which a dog had three separate attacks during a period of 
tour months. The complications may be divided approximately 
into three clases : 1, respiratory ; 2, intestinal ; 3, cerebro-spinal. 
Respiratory troubles are usually ushered in by a coryza, 
which may disappear in a few days, but in most cases it is fol¬ 
lowed by congestion of the lungs and broncho-pneumonia, 
which is indicated by an increase of fever, alternating with 
chills, respirations greatly accelerated, and in severe cases flap¬ 
ping of the lips during expiration. On auscultation mucous 
and sibilant rales can be detected. The animal emaciates rap¬ 
idly and refuses all food. The discharges from the nose and 
eyes become muco-purulent. When the nasal discharges be¬ 
come mixed with blood it usually indicates the breaking down 
