24 
W. E. WADAMS. 
Veterinary profession, for the simple reason, that the majority of 
the practitioners consider “Canine Practice ” of small importance, 
and not sufficiently renumerative for the time and trouble ex¬ 
pended ; but, be that as it may, it is a source of considerable 
income to me, for I find that men who own dogs valuable enough 
to treat, do what they can cheerfully for their pets and are will¬ 
ing to pay reasonably for the effort. 
At one time I was inclined to believe from the numerous 
forms distemper assumes, that there was really no such distinct 
disease, but that a variety of complaints had been ignorantly 
jumbled together under a term which affords no distinguishing 
mark by which to test its separate existence. But closer obser¬ 
vation has enabled me, I think, to seize the clue, which explains 
all these apparent discrepancies, and also leads the way to the 
scientific treatment of this sometimes unmanagable disorder. 
I began my investigation by considering what symptoms in¬ 
variably attended upon distemper. At first I was completely 
puzzled, for I found in one series of cases nothing but cough, 
and discharge at the nose and eyes, in another these symptoms 
were absent, and their place supplied by head symptoms, and 
fits, whilst again in the third set, the dogs all suffered from diar¬ 
rhoea with discharges of blood and had neither head nor chest 
symptoms in any stage of the disease. In all these cases, how¬ 
ever, I found there was fever, and that of a peculiar kind. This 
was not like the ordinary feverishness which dogs are subject to,, 
and which attends upon almost all their acute attacks, but of a 
low typhoid character, with great exhaustion, loss of appetite 
and in the latter stages a collection of brown fur or as it is called 
in human medicine “Sordes,” about the teeth. 
It seems strange that such men as Dr. Jenner, James Wood¬ 
ruff Hill, Forrest and others, did not think of this fact, but if so 
have failed to mention it. Their experience in vaccination proved 
a failure and this is the universal opinion of all modern profession¬ 
al men who have given it a trial. Everyone, however, must 
recollect numerous instances in which a simple clue once seized 
will explain away all differences or difficulties, except the one 
