CANINE DISTEMPER. 
641 
series of fits in rapid succession may be considered as indicating 
a fatal result, while one or two, especially if occurring early in 
the course of the disease, do not have a grave signification. We 
may look for fits in finely-bred dogs and those of a highly 
nervous organization. 
Myelitis is indicated by a gradual progressing paraplegia 
which in most cases is accompanied by anaesthesia of the parts 
affected. The paralysis usually precedes the fatal result, or if 
the animal recovers there will be in most cases an imperfect use 
of the hind limbs. 
Chorea is a clonic spasm of the voluntary muscles, and may 
be general or local. It may come on at the end of the period 
of eruption or may appear as a sequella some weeks after recov¬ 
ery. The muscular twitching is more marked when the ani¬ 
mal is in a state of repose. Associated with it we very often 
have a high degree of nervous irritability and the animal cries 
persistently as if in great pain, sometimes even in his sleep. In 
other cases the animal remains in good spirits and has an excel¬ 
lent appetite. The general form has been described as a paraly¬ 
sis agitans, and is not amenable to treatment. The constant 
motion wears the animal out; the muscles atrophy ; the animal 
becomes a miserable skeleton and succumbs to exhaustion. 
Some local forms where one set of muscles only or one side of 
the body is affected, yield to treatment. In others, while the 
general health may be restored, the muscular twitching persists 
during life. In rare cases we will observe nervous phenomena 
simulating locomotor ataxia in which there is a loss of coordi¬ 
nation in the movement of the limbs, a staggering precipitate 
gait, the legs starting hither and thither in a very peculiar man¬ 
ner and the feet coming down with a stamp at each step. This 
condition is due to a diseased area affecting the posterior col¬ 
umns of the spinal cord and the posterior nerve roots. As in 
the human subject the use of the eyesight is necessary to pre¬ 
vent the animal from falling. We have not noticed, however, 
strabismus, ptosis or neuralgic pains which are characteristic of 
this disease in human beings. 
