686 
S. S. BAKER, 
dog to another, or from a kennel in which the diseased dog has 
been kept. I have known dogs admitted to a hospital take 
the disease long after a case had been there, and after all pre¬ 
cautions had been taken as to cleanliness and disinfection. 
Some authors attribute it to improper feeding, especially on 
a meat diet, improperly ventilated, damp kennels, etc.; but I 
am satisfied that it is due to a specific virus, although the 
environments have, of course, a great deal to do with it. I do 
not think it is carried in the air, but that a dog must come 
in actual contact with the virus, either on infected animal, or in 
some place in which one infected with the disease has been 
kept, The annual bench shows are a fruitful source of spread¬ 
ing the disease. Spring and fall are the most common seasons 
of distemper, and, as the shows are held then, we generally 
have more distemper following than any other season of the 
year. 
Seminology .—There are so many symptoms that it would be 
very difficult to enumerate them all. The most prominent ones 
in an uncomplicated case are catarrhal discharges from the eyes 
and nose, thin and watery at first, finally becoming muco¬ 
purulent ; elevation of temperature, rapid pulse, sneezing, dry 
hot nose, stoning coat, dullness, loss of appetite, etc. The 
most common complications (and they usually accompany the 
disease) are bronchial, although pneumonia, intestinal and he¬ 
patic lesions are by no means rare. There is a hard, dry 
cough, bowels are constipated or may be loose ; usually there is 
diarrhoea, and the discharges are very offensive, and of a black 
tarry consistency. Skin eruptions sometimes occur, most fre¬ 
quently showing on the belly. 
Diagnosis .—Uncomplicated cases, as I said before, usually 
terminate favorably. I believe that few dogs die of distemper 
pure and simple. When complications exist the case becomes 
graver in the extreme, and is very abt to be fatal as the compli¬ 
cations become aggravated. If the dog passes through distem¬ 
per safely, he may be taken off by one of the numerous sequelar 
that often follow. 
