354 
FRANK FORESTER’S FIELD SPORTS. 
any distinct or strict diagnostic signs, yet it is not difficult, on 
the whole, of detection. 
A dry, husky cough, followed by a loss of spirits and appe¬ 
tite, the staring of the coat, and a thin watery discharge from 
the nostrils and eyes, gradually instead of limpid becoming 
muco-purulent, are usually the earliest symptoms of the disease ; 
though at times the discharge does not appear, or is quickly 
arrested, and followed by convulsions, which usually terminate 
the affair very quickly. 
When the symptomatic epilepsy of distemper occurs, if the at¬ 
tack can be arrested with the occurrence of a single fit, the dog 
often recovers, but if one is followed by a second, the case is 
usually hopeless. 
The virulent or putrid type of the disease marked by a bloody 
and foetid discharge from the nose, eyes, and sometimes even 
from the ears, and by bloody, mucous and bilious evacuations 
of the bowels, is, I think, so almost invariably fatal, that the 
most merciful method is at once to destroy the animal, as an act 
of kindness to himself, as well as a. means of preventing extend¬ 
ed ravages by contagion. 
Again, distemper often leaves behind it a species of paralysis, 
with nervous twitchings of the limbs, similar to chorea or St. 
Vitus’ dance, which continually increase, until it ends in convul¬ 
sions and death, though it will at times slowly and entirely dis¬ 
appear. 
The treatment of distemper must therefore necessarily vary 
greatly, and it is needless to add that although almost every 
sportsman and breeder has, what he believes, an infallible rem¬ 
edy—there is no such thing as a general specific for its cure or 
prevention. 
The best plan generally is to commence operations with a 
mild purgative or emetic, such as have been prescribed under 
the head of General Treatment. 
If there is very much cough, or the pulse be very greatly ex¬ 
cited, bleed from three to six oz., according to the age and size 
of the dog. If bleeding is adopted, use a very mild purgative. 
