Chapter 12

ANATOMY OF THE GULLET, STOMACH, AND INTESTINES: TETANUS; ENTERITIS; PERITONITIS; COLIC; CALCULUS IN THE INTESTINES: INTUSSUSCEPTION; DIARRHOEA; DYSENTERY; COSTIVENESS; DROPSY; THE LIVER; JAUNDICE; THE SPLEEN AND PANCREAS; INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEY; CALCULUS; INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER; RUPTURE OF THE BLADDER; WORMS: FISTULA IN THE ANUS.

The 'oesophagus', or gullet, of the dog, is constructed in nearly the same manner as that of the horse. It consists of a similar muscular tube passing down the neck and through the chest, and terminating in the stomach, in which the process of digestion is commenced. The orifice by which the gullet enters the stomach is termed the 'cardia', probably on account of its neighbourhood to the heart or its sympathy with it. It is constantly closed, except when the food is passing through it into the stomach.

The 'stomach' has three coats: the outermost, which is the common covering of all the intestines, called the peritoneum; the second or muscular coat, consisting of two layers of fibres, by which a constant motion is communicated to the stomach, mingling the food, and preparing it for digestion; and the mucous or villous, where the work of digestion properly commences, the mouths of numerous little vessels opening upon it, which exude the gastric juice, to mix with the food already softened, and to convert it into a fluid called the chyme. It is a simpler apparatus than in the horse or in cattle. It is occasionally the primary seat of inflammation: and it almost invariably sympathises with the affections of the other intestines.

The successive contractions of each portion of the stomach, expose by turns every portion of the alimentary mass to the influence of the gastric juice, and each is gradually discharged into the alimentary canal.

As the chyme is formed, it passes out of the other orifice of the stomach, and enters the first intestine or 'duodenum'.

It may be naturally supposed that this process will occasionally be interrupted by a variety of circumstances. Inflammation of the stomach of the dog is very difficult to deal with. It is produced by numerous different causes. There is great and long-continued sickness; even the most harmless medicine is not retained on the stomach. The thirst is excessive; there are evident indications of excessive pain, expressed by the countenance and by groans: there is a singular disposition in the animal to hide himself from all observation; an indication that should never be neglected, nor the frequent change from heat to cold, and from cold to heat.

The mode of treatment is simple, although too often inefficient. The lancet must be immediately resorted to, and the bleeding continued until the animal seems about to fall; and to this should quickly succeed repeated injections. Two or three drops of the croton oil should be injected twice or thrice in the day, until the bowels are thoroughly opened. The animal will be considerably better, or the disease cured, in the course of a couple of days.

There is a singular aptitude in the stomach of the dog to eject a portion of its contents; but, almost immediately afterwards, the food, or a portion if not the whole of it, is swallowed again. This is a matter of daily occurrence. There is a coarse rough grass, the 'cynosurus cristatus', or crested dog's-tail. It is inferior for the purposes of hay, but is admirably suited for permanent pastures. It remains green after most other grasses are burnt by a continuance of dry weather. The dog, if it be in his power, has frequent recourse to it, especially if he lives mostly in a town. The dry and stimulating food, which generally falls to his share, produces an irritation of his stomach, from which lie is glad to free himself; and for this purpose he has recourse to the sharp leaves of the cynosurus. They irritate the lining membrane of the stomach and intestines, and cause a portion of the food to be occasionally evacuated; acting either as an emetic or a purgative, or both. They seem to be designed by nature to be substituted for the calomel and tartar emetic, and other drugs, which are far too often introduced.

An interesting case of the retention of a sharp instrument in the stomach is related by Mr. Kent of Bristol.

On the 23d of February, Mr. Harford, residing in Bristol, when feeding a pointer-dog, happened to let the fork tumble with the flesh, and the dog swallowed them both. On the following morning, Mr. Kent was desired to see the animal; and, although he could feel the projection of the fork outwardly, which convinced him that the dog had in reality swallowed it, yet, as he appeared well, and exhibited no particular symptoms of pain or fever, Mr. Kent gave it as his opinion that there was a possibility that he might survive the danger, and the animal was sent to him, in order to be more immediately under his care. The treatment he adopted was, to feed him on cow's liver, with a view to keep the stomach distended and the bowels open; and he gave him three times a day half a pint of water, with sufficient sulphuric acid to make it rather strongly sour to the human tongue, with the intention of assisting the stomach in dissolving the iron.

On the following Sunday, the skin, at the projecting point, began to exhibit some indication of ulceration; and on Monday a prong of the fork might be touched with the point of the finger, when pressed on the ulcer. Mr. Kent then determined on making an effort to extract the fork on the following morning, which he accordingly did, and with but little difficulty, assisted by a medical friend of the owner. The dog was still fed on cow's liver; his appetite remained good, and with very little medical treatment the external wound healed. The animal improved rapidly in flesh during the whole time. He left the infirmary in perfect health, and remained so, with one inconvenience only, a very bad cough, and his being obliged to lie at length, being unable to coil himself up in his usual way.

The fork was a three-pronged one, six and a half inches long. The handle, which was of ivory, was digested: it was quite gone; and either the gastric fluid or the acid, or both conjointly, had made a very apparent impression on the iron.

Dogs occasionally swallow various strange and unnatural substances. Considerable quantities of hair are sometimes accumulated in the stomach. Half-masticated pieces of straw are ejected. Straw mingled with dung is a too convincing proof of rabies. Dog-grass is found irritating the stomach, or in too great quantities to be ejected, while collections of earth and dung sometimes threaten suffocation. Pieces of money are occasionally found, and lead, and sponge. Various species of polypus irritate the coats of the stomach. Portions of chalk, or stone, or condensed matters, adhere to each other, and masses of strange consistence and form are collected. The size which they assume increases more and more. M. Galy relates an extraordinary account of a dog. It was about three years old when a tumour began to be perceived in the flank. Some sharp-pointed substance was felt; the veterinary surgeon cut down upon it, and a piece of iron, six inches in length, was drawn out.

The following fact was more extraordinary: it is related by M. Noiret. A hound swallowed a bone, which rested in the superior part of the oesophagus, behind the pharynx, and caused the most violent efforts to get rid of it. The only means by which it could be made to descend into the stomach was by pushing it with the handle of a fork, which, escaping from the hand of the operator, followed the bone into the stomach. Two months afterwards, on examining the stomach, the fork was plainly felt lying in a longitudinal direction, parallel with the position of the body; the owner of the dog wishing mechanically to accelerate the expulsion of this body, endeavoured to push it backwards with his hands. When it was drawn as far back as possible, he inserted two fingers into the anus, and succeeded in getting hold of the handle, which he drew out nearly an inch; but, in order to be enabled fully to effect his object, it was necessary to make an incision into the rectum, and free the substance from every obstacle that could retain it. This he did not venture to do, and he was therefore compelled to allow the fork to pass back into its former position.

About three months after the accident, M. Noiret made an incision, three inches from above to below, and the same from the front backwards. He also made an incision through the muscular tissue. Having arrived at the peritoneum, he made another incision, through which he drew from the abdomen a part of the floating portion of the large intestines, and introduced his fingers into the abdominal cavity. He seized the handle of the fork, which was among the viscera, and free about half-way down, and drew it carefully towards the opening made in the flank. The other half of the fork was found to be closely enveloped by the origin of the mesocolon, which was red, hard, and inflamed. The operator freed it by cutting through the tissues which held the fork, and then drew it easily out. The animal was submitted to a proper course of treatment, and in three weeks afterwards was perfectly cured.

The food, having been converted into chyme by the digestive power of the stomach, soon undergoes another and very important change. It, or a portion of it, is converted into chyle. It is mixed with the bile and a secretion from the pancreas in the duodenum. The white thick liquid is separated, and contains the nutritive part of the food, and a yellow pulpy substance is gradually changed into excrement. As these substances pass on, the separation between them becomes more and more complete. The chyle is gradually taken up by the lacteals, and the excrement alone remains.

The next of the small intestines is the 'jejunum', so called from its being generally empty. It is smaller in bulk than the duodenum, and the chyme passes rapidly through it.

Next in the list is the 'ileum'; but it is difficult to say where the jejunum terminates and the ileum commences, except that the latter is usually one-fifth longer than the former.

At the termination of the ileum the 'cæcum' makes its appearance, with a kind of valvular opening into it, of such a nature that everything that passes along it having reached the blind or closed end, must return in order to escape; or rather the office of the cæcum is to permit certain alimentary matters and all fluids to pass from the ileum, but to oppose their return.

The 'colon' is an intestine of very large size, being one of the most capacious, as well as one of the longest, of the large intestines. It commences at the cæsum caput coli, and soon expands into a cavity of greater dimensions than even that of the stomach itself. Having attained this singular bulk, it begins to contract, and continues to do so during its course round the cæcum, until it has completed its second flexure, where it grows so small as scarcely to exceed in calibre one of the small intestines; and though, from about the middle of this turn, it again swells out by degrees, it never afterwards acquires its former capaciousness; indeed, previously to its junction with the rectum, it once more materially differs in size.

At the upper part of the margin of the pelvis the colon terminates in the 'rectum', which differs from the cæcum and colon by possessing only a partial peritoneal covering, and being destitute of bands and cells. It enlarges towards its posterior extremity, and is furnished with a circular muscle, the sphincter ani, adapted to preserve the anus closed, and to retain the fæculent matter until so much of it is accumulated in the rectum as to excite a desire to discharge it.

TETANUS,

a disease of great fatality, often depends upon the condition of the stomach; but it is not frequent in dogs.

Why the dog is so little subject to 'tetanus', or lock-jaw, I am unable to explain. Sportsmen say that it sometimes attacks him when, being heated in the chase, he plunges into the water after the stag. The French give it the name of 'mal de cerf', from stags being supposed to be attacked in a similar way, and from the same cause. In the course of nearly forty years' practice, I have seen but four cases of it. The first arose from a wound in the foot. The cause of the second I could not learn. In both the spasmodic action was dreadful as well as universal. The dogs lay on their sides, the neck and legs stretched out, and the upper legs kept some inches from the ground by the intensity of the spasm. They might be taken up by either leg, and not a portion of the frame change its direction. At the same time, in their countenances, and by their hoarse cries, they indicated the torture which they endured.

In the third case, which occurred 12th June, 1822, the head was drawn permanently on one side, and the whole body formed a kind of bow, the dog walking curiously sideways, often falling as it walked, and frequently screaming violently. I ordered him to be well rubbed with an ammoniacal liniment, and balls of tonic and purging medicine to be given twice in the day. The dog gradually recovered, and was dismissed cured on the 20th.

On the 16th November, in the same year, a bull-terrier had a similar complaint. He had been tried in the pit a fortnight before, and severely injured, and the pain and stiffness of his joints were increasing. The head was now permanently drawn on one side. The dog was unable to stand even for a moment, and the eyes were in a state of spasmodic motion. He was a most savage brute; but I attempted to manage him, and, by the assistance of the owner, contrived lo bleed him, and to give him a physic-ball. At the same time I advised that he should be destroyed.

His master would not consent to this; and, as the dog occasionally ate a little, we contrived to give a grain each of calomel and opium every sixth hour. In the course of three days he was materially recovered. He could stand, but was exceedingly weak, I ordered the calomel lo be omitted, but the opium to be continued. Three days afterwards he was sent into the country, and, as I heard, perfectly recovered.

The following is a very interesting case of tetanus, detailed by M. Debeaux, of the Royal French Chasseurs:

A favourite dog was missing. Four days had passed, and no intelligence could be obtained with regard to him until he returned home, fatigued and half-starved. He had probably been stolen. In the excess of their joy, the owners crammed him with meat until he became strangely ill. His throat was filled with froth, the pupils of his eyes were dilated, the conjunctiva was strongly injected, his neck was spasmodically contracted, and the spine of the back was bowed, and most highly sensible to the touch. M. Debeaux was sent for; it was an hour before he could attend. The dog was lying on his belly; the four limbs were extended and stiff. He uttered the most dreadful and prolonged howling every two or three minutes. The surgeon ordered the application of a dozen leeches to the chest and belly; laxative medicines were given, and embrocations applied to the spine and back.

Three days passed, and the symptoms evidently augmented. The excrement was dark and fetid, and the conjunctiva had a strong yellow tint. Leeches were again employed; emollient lotions and aperient medicines were resorted to. The sensibility of the spine and back was worse than ever; the animal lay on his belly, stretching out his four limbs, his neck fixed, his jaws immovable, his voice hoarse, and he was utterly unable to move.

The bathings, lotions, and aperients were continued, with very few intermissions, until the 14th day, when the muscles began to be a little relaxed; but he cried whenever he was touched. On the 15th, for the first time, he began to eat a little, and his natural voice returned; still, however, the spasms occasionally appeared, but very much mitigated, and on the 20th the pain had entirely ceased.

On the 5th of the next month he travelled two leagues with his master. It was cold, and the snow fell. On his reaching home, all the horrible spasms returned, and it was eleven days before he was completely cured. [1]

Mr. Blaine gives the following account of his experience of this disease:

"It is remarkable, that although dogs are subject to various spasmodic affections, yet they are so little subject to lock-jaw that I never met with more than three cases of it among many thousands of diseased dogs. Two of these cases were 'idiopathic'; one being apparently occasioned by exposure to cold air all night; the other the cause was obscure. The third was of that kind called 'sympathetic', and arose from extreme injury done to one of the feet. In each of these cases the convulsive spasm was extreme, and the rigidity universal but not intense. In one case the jaw was only partially locked. Both warm and cold bathings were tried. Large doses of opium and camphor were given by the mouth, and also thrown up in clysters. The spine of one was blistered. Stimulating frictions were applied to all, but in neither case with any salutary effect." [2]

ENTERITIS.

'Enteritis', or inflammation of the intestine, is a disease to which dogs are very liable. It may be produced by the action of several causes. The intestines of the dog are peculiarly irritable, and subject to take on inflammatory action, and this tendency is often much increased by the artificial life which they lead. It is a very frequent complaint among those dogs that are much petted. A cold temperature is also a common cause of disease in these dogs.

I was consulted with regard to a dog who was hiding himself in a cold, dark corner, paved with stone. Every now and then he lifted his head and uttered a howl closely resembling that of a rabid dog. He fixed his gaze intently upon me, with a peculiarity of expression which many would have mistaken for rabid. They, however, who have had the opportunity of seeing many of these cases, will readily perceive the difference. The conjunctiva is not so red, the pupil is not so dilated, and the dog appears to implore pity and not to menace evil.

In this state, if the dog is approached, he will not permit himself to be touched until he he convinced that no harm is intended. A peculiar slowness attends each motion; his cries are frequent and piteous; his belly hot and tender; two cords, in many cases, seem to run longitudinally from the chest to the pubis, and on these he cannot bear the slightest pressure. He abhors all food; but his thirst for water, and particularly cold water, is extreme; he frequently looks round at his flanks, and the lingering gaze is terminated by a cry or groan. In the majority of cases there is considerable costiveness; but, in others, the bowels are freely opened from the beginning.

The peritoneal inflammation is sometimes pure, but oftener involves the muscular coat of the intestines. Its prevailing cause is exposure to cold, especially after fatigue, of lying on the wet stones or grass. Now and then it is the result of neglected rheumatism, especially in old and petted dogs.

The treatment is simple. Bleed until the pulse falters, put the animal in a warm bath, and let the belly be gently rubbed while the dog is in the water, and well fomented afterwards; the drink should consist of warm broth, or warm milk and water. The bleeding should be repeated, if little or unsatisfactory relief is obtained; and the examination of the rectum with the finger, and the removal of any hardened fæces that may have accumulated there, and the cautious use of enemata, neither too stimulating nor too forcibly injected, should be resorted to. No medicine should be employed until the most urgent symptoms are abated. Castor oil, the mildest of our purgatives--syrup of buckthorn assisting the purgative property of the oil, and containing in its composition as much stimulating power as is safe--and the spirit of while poppies--the most convenient anodyne to mingle with the other medicines--will generally be successful in allaying the irritation already existing, and preventing the development of more. Even this must not be given in too large quantities, and the effect must be assisted by a repetition of the enemata every fifth or sixth hour. On examination after death the nature of the disease is sufficiently evident: the peritoneum, or portions of it, is highly injected with blood, the veins are turgid, the muscular membrane corrugated and hardened, while often the mucous membrane displays not a trace of disease. In violent cases, however, the whole of the intestines exhibit evidence of inflammation.

I was much gratified a few years ago in witnessing the decided manner in which Professor Spooner expressed himself with regard to the treatment of enteritis in the dog.

"I should deem it advisable," said he, "to administer a purgative; but of what would that consist? Calomel? Certainly not. I was surprised to hear one gentleman assert that he should administer it to the extent of from five to ten grains, and another to say that he should not hesitate to exhibit a scruple of calomel to a dog, and to all carnivorous animals. I should never think of exhibiting it as a cathartic. I should only administer it in small doses, and for the purpose of producing its specific effect on the liver, which is the peculiar property of this drug. Given in larger doses it would not be retained, and if it got into the intestines it would act as a powerful drastic purgative." [3]

In our treatment of the horse we have got rid of a great proportion of the destructive urine-balls and drastic purgatives of the farrier. The cow is no longer drenched with half-a-dozen deleterious stimulants. A most desirable change has been effected in the medical treatment of these animals. Let us not, with regard to the dog, continue to pursue the destructive course of the keeper or the huntsman.

The following case of enteritis, with rupture of the colon, may be useful:

On March 15, 1840, I was requested to attend a large dog of the bull breed, three years old, who had not appeared to be well during the last four or five days.

I had scarcely arrived ere I recognised it to be a case of enteritis. He had a dreadful shivering fit, to which succeeded heat of the skin and restlessness. The muzzle was dry and hot, as also was the tongue. The eyes were sunken and redder than usual; the breathing was accelerated, but not very laborious; the extremities were cold, while the surface of the body was hot and painful to the touch. The bowels were constipated, and had been so during the last week; some dung however was evacuated, but it was hard and dry, and in small quantities. The pulse was quick, but full; and there was a slight pain and considerable irritation in the rectum. I took from him [Symbol: ounce] x. of blood before the desired effect was produced, and then gave him tinct. opii gr. xiv., et spt. ether, nit. gutt. viij., cum ol. ricini [Symbol: ounce] iij., and an opiate enema to allay the irritation of the rectum. This was about 8 o'clock, A.M.

11 A.M.--The bowels have not been moved, and the pain is more intense; his countenance expresses great anxiety; he frequently lies on his stomach, and the pulse is small but quick. I gave him a little broth, and ordered the abdomen to be fomented with hot flannels.

2 P.M.--He has had distressing sickness, and is extremely anxious for water. I introduced my finger into the rectum, but could not discover any hardened fæces. Enemata, composed of mag. sulphas and warm water, were frequently thrown into the intestines; as soon as one came away another was thrown up.

4 P.M.--No better: gave him pulv. aloes [Symbol: ounce] j.; calomel, gr. vj. et pulv. opii gr. viij. The fomentations to be continued, and the abdomen rubbed with a lin. terebinthinæ.

5 P.M.--A great change has taken place within the last hour; the hind extremities are paralysed; the mouth and ears are cold; the pulse is more hurried and irregular, and almost imperceptible; the respiration is laborious and irregular, as is the pulse; and the dog is frequently sick. To be kept quiet.

6 P.M.--Another change: he lies panting and groaning piteously; his limbs are bathed in sweat, with convulsive struggles. At twenty minutes past six he died.

A post-mortem examination presented general marks of inflammation; the small intestines were extremely red, while the large ones were in a gangrenous state and most offensive, with a rupture of the colon. I did not expect to meet with the rupture, and am at a loss to account for it. The liver was of a pale ashen colour, and very light. I put a piece of it into some water, and it floated on the surface. The other contents of the abdomen did not show the slightest appearance of disease.

September 2d, 1843.--A black pug-bitch, 18 months old, was yesterday taken violently sick; the vomiting continued at intervals the greater part of the day, and she had not eaten during the last 24 hours. I could not possibly get at her, on account of her ferocity: as she had not had the distemper, and as I was misled by her age and the watery discharge from her eyes, and as she had had several motions yesterday, I imagined that the attack might be the beginning of that disease. Learning that she was fond of sweet things, I prepared an emetic containing a grain of calomel and a grain of tartar emetic: she took it readily, and I promised to call on the following day.

Sept. 3.--The weakness at the eyes had disappeared, but there had been no motion. On getting at her by main force I found her belly very tense and rather hot: she had again been sick, was very eager for water, and still refused to eat. The disease was now evident. As she appeared too unmanageable for anything else, I produced a physic-ball, in giving which I was bitten.

Six hours afterwards I again went: no fæces had passed: I administered two enemas, the second of which was returned with a small quantity of hardened fæces and an intolerable smell. I ordered the water to be removed, and broth to be substituted.

Sept. 4.--The dog is in good spirits, has eaten heartily, and had no motion, probably because it was habitually cleanly, and had not been taken out of doors. Her owner considered her as quite well, and dismissed me. Three days afterwards a servant came to say that all was going on very well.

PERITONITIS.

Chronic inflammation of the 'peritoneal membrane' is a frequent disease among dogs. The animal loses his appetite and spirits; he sometimes eats a little and sometimes not; he becomes thin, his belly is tucked up, and when we closely examine him we find it contracted and hard, and those longitudinal columns of which I have already spoken are peculiarly dense and almost unyielding. He now and then utters a half-suppressed whine, and he occasionally seeks to hide himself. In the greater number of cases he after a while recovers; but he too often pines away and dies. On examination after death the case is plain enough. There is inflammation of the peritoneal membrane, more indicated by undue congestion of the bowels than by the general blush of the membrane. The inflammation has now spread to the muscular coat, and the whole of the intestine is corrugated and thickened.

There is another peritoneal affection, aggravated by combination with a rheumatic tendency, to which the dog is more disposed than any other domesticated animal. It has its most frequent origin in cold, or being too much fed on stimulating and acrid food, and probably from other causes which have not yet been sufficiently developed.

Here also no drastic purgative is to be admitted; it would be adding fuel to fire: not a grain of calomel should be used, if the life of the animal is valued. The castor oil mixture will afford the most certain relief, a drop or two of the oil of peppermint being added to it.

COLIC.

The dog is also subject to fits of 'colic', principally to be traced to improper food, or a sudden change of food, or exposure to cold. This is particularly the case with puppies. There is no redness of the eye, no heat of the mouth, no quickened respiration; but the animal labours under fits of pain. He is not quiet for a minute. He gets into one corner and another, curling himself closely up, but he does not lie there more than a minute or two; another fit of pain comes on; he utters his peculiar yelp, and seeks some new place in which he may possibly find rest.

It is with considerable diffidence that I offer an opinion on this subject contrary to that of Mr. Blaine. He states that the treatment of this species of colic is seldom successful, and that which has seemed the most efficacious has been mercurial purgatives; namely, calomel one grain, aloes a scruple, and opium a quarter of a grain, until the bowels are opened. I have seldom found much difficulty in relieving the patient suffering under this affection; and I gave no aloes nor calomel, but the oleaginous mixture to which I have so often referred. I should not so much object to the aloes, for they constitute an excellent purgative for the dog; nor to a dog that I was preparing for work, or that was suffering from worms, should I object to two or three grains of calomel intimately mixed with the aloes: from the combined effect of the two, some good might be obtained.

CALCULUS IN THE INTESTINES

Many persons have a very foolish custom of throwing stones, that their dogs may dive or run after them, and bring them to their owner's feet: the consequence is, that their teeth are soon worn down, and there are too many cases on record in which the stone has been swallowed. It has been impeded in its progress through the intestinal canal, inflammation has ensued, and the animal has been lost, after having suffered the most dreadful torture.

Professor Simonds relates a case in which a dog was thus destroyed. The animal for some days previous to his admission into the hospital had refused his food, and there was obstinate constipation of the bowels, to remove which aperient medicine had been given. The pulse was accelerated, there was distension of the abdomen with evident tenderness on pressure, the extremities were cold, no fæces were voided, and he occasionally vomited. Some aperient medicine was given, which was retained on the stomach, and enemas and external stimulants were resorted to, but two days afterwards he died.

The intestines were examined, and the offending body was found to be a common pebble. The dog had long been accustomed to fetch stones out of the water. One of these stones had passed through the stomach into the intestines, and, after proceeding some distance along them, had been impacted there. The inflammation was most intense so far as the stone had gone; but in the part of the intestine to which it had not reached there was not any. This was an interesting and instructive case, and should make its due impression.

Another account of the strange contents of the intestines of a bitch may be here introduced.

A valuable pointer-bitch was sent to the infirmary of Mr. Godwin of Litchfield. She presented a very emaciated appearance, and had done so for four or five months. Her evacuations for a day or two were very thin and copious, and afterwards for several days nothing was passed. When pressing the abdomen with both hands, a hard substance was distinctly felt in the inferior part of the umbilical region. She was destroyed, and, upon 'post-mortem' examination, a calculus was discovered in the ileum about the size and shape of a hen's egg, the nucleus of which was a portion of hair. The coats of the intestines were considerably thickened and enlarged, so as to form a kind of sac for its retention. Anterior to this was another substance, consisting of a ball of hair, covered with a layer of earthy matter about the eighth of an inch thick, and next to this another ball of hair of less dimensions, intermixed with a gritty substance. The stomach contained a large quantity of hair, and a portion of the omentum, about the size of n crown piece, was thickly studded with small white calculi, the largest about the size of a pea, and exceedingly hard.

INTUSSUSCEPTION.

If 'peritonitis'--inflammation--is neglected, or drastic purgatives are too often and too plentifully administered, a peculiar contraction of the muscular membrane of the intestine takes place, and one portion of the bowel is received within another--there is 'intussusception'. In most cases, a portion of the anterior intestine is received into that which is posterior to it. Few of us have opened a dog that had been labouring under this peculiar affection without being struck with the collapsed state of the canal in various parts, and in some much more than in others. Immediately posterior to this collapsed portion, it is widened to a considerable extent. The peristaltic motion of the intestine goes on, and the consequence is, that the constricted portion is received into that which is widened, the anterior portion is invaginated in the posterior: obstruction of the intestinal passage is the necessary consequence, and the animal dies, either from the general disturbance of the system which ensues, or the inflammation which is set up in the invaginated part.

I will say nothing of medical treatment in this case; for I do not know the symptoms of intussusception, or how it is to be distinguished from acute inflammation of the bowels. Acute inflammation will not long exist without producing it; and, if its existence should be strongly suspected, the treatment would be the same as for inflammation.

The domesticated dog, from the nature of his food, more than from any constitutional tendency, is liable to constipation. This should never be neglected. If two or three days should pass without an evacuation, the case should be taken in hand; otherwise inflammation will be very soon established. In order to procure an evacuation, the aloetic ball, with one or two grains of calomel, should be given. Beyond that, however, I should not dare to go; but, if the constipation continued, I should have recourse to the castor-oil mixture. I should previously examine and empty the rectum, and have frequent recourse to the enema-syringe; and I should continue both. It would be my object to evacuate the intestinal canal with as little increased action as possible.

DIARRHOEA

is the discharge of fæces more frequently than usual, and thinner than their natural consistence, but otherwise not materially altered in quality; and the mucous coat of the intestines being somewhat congested, if not inflamed. It is the consequence of over-feeding, or the use of improper food. Sometimes it is of very short continuance, and disappears without any bad consequence; the health being unaffected, and the character of the fæces not otherwise altered than by assuming a fluid character. It may not be bad practice to wait a day, or possibly two, as it is desirable for the action of the intestines to be restored without the aid of art. I should by no means give a physic-ball, or a grain of calomel, in simple diarrhoea. I should fear the establishment of that species of purging which is next to be described. The castor-oil mixture usually affords the best hope of success.

Habitual diarrhoea is not an unfrequent disease in petted dogs: in some it is constitutional, in others it is the effect of neglected constipation. A state of chronic inflammation is induced, which has become part of the constitution of the dog; and, if repressed in the intestines, it will appear under a more dangerous form in some other place.

DYSENTERY

is a far more serious complaint. In most cases a considerable degree of inflammation of the mucous coat exists, and the mucus is separated from the membrane beneath, and discharged per anum. The mucus thus separated from the intestinal membrane assumes an acrid character. It not only produces inflammation of the membrane, dangerous and difficult to treat, but it excoriates the anus and neighbouring parts, and produces pain and tenesmus.

This disease has sometimes been fatally misunderstood. A great deal of irritation exists in the intestinal membrane generally, and in the lower part of the rectum particularly. The fæces passing over this denuded surface cause a considerable degree of pain, and there is much straining, and a very small bit or portion of faces is evacuated. This has often been seen by the careless observer; and, as he has taken it as an indication of costiveness, some drastic purgative has been administered, and the animal quickly killed.

No one that had ascertained the real nature of the disease would administer calomel in any form or combination; but the anodyne mixture as an enema, and also administered by the mouth, is the only medicine from which benefit can be expected.

COSTIVENESS

is a disease when it becomes habitual. It is connected with disease of the intestinal canal. Many dogs have a dry constipated habit, often greatly increased by the bones on which they are too frequently fed. This favours the disposition to mange and to many diseases depending on morbid secretions. It produces indigestion, encourages worms, blackens the teeth, and causes fetid breath. The food often accumulates in the intestines, and the consequence is inflammation of these organs. A dog should never be suffered to remain costive more than a couple of days. An aloetic ball or some Epsom salts should then be administered; and this failing to produce the desired effect, the castor-oil mixture, with spirits of buckthorn and white poppies, should be administered, and the use of the clyster-pipe resorted to. It may be necessary to introduce the finger or the handle of a spoon when the fæcal matter is more than usually hard, and it is with difficulty broken down; small doses of castor-oil should be afterwards resorted to, and recourse occasionally be had to boiled liver, which the dog will rarely refuse. The best means, however, of preventing costiveness in dogs, as well as in men, is regular exercise. A dog who is kept chained up in a kennel should be taken out and have a certain quantity of exercise once in the twenty-four hours. When this cannot be done, the food should consist chiefly of well-boiled farinaceous matter.

DROPSY

Another disease, which is not confined to the abdominal cavity, is dropsy: but, as in the dog it most commonly assumes that form which is termed ascites, or dropsy of the abdomen, it may be noticed in this place. It is seldom an idiopathic or primary affection, but is generally the consequence of some other disease, most commonly of an inflammatory kind.

Dropsy is a collection of fluid in some part of the frame, either from increased exhalation, or from diminished absorption, the consequence of inflammation. The divisions of dropsy are into active and passive, or acute and chronic. The causes are also very properly arranged as predisposing and exciting. The diseases on which dropsy most frequently supervenes are fevers and visceral inflammations and obstructions. The dog is peculiarly subject to 'ascites' or 'dropsy of the belly', and the quantity of fluid contained in the abdomen is sometimes almost incredible. It is usually accompanied or characterised by a weak, unequal, small, and frequent pulse--paleness of the lips, tongue, and gums--flaccidity of the muscles, hurried breathing on the least exertion, feebleness of the joints, swellings of the lower limbs, effusion of fluid into the integuments or among the muscles, before there is any considerable effusion into the thorax or the abdomen, and an unhealthy appearance of the cutaneous surface. The urine seldom coagulates. This form of dropsy is usually seated in the abdomen or cellular tissue.

The treatment of ascites is seldom perfectly successful. The great extent of the peritoneum, the number and importance of the viscera with which it is connected, and of the absorbent glands which it encloses, the number and weakness of the veins which transmit their blood to the portal vessels, and the absence of valves, in some measure account for the frequent accumulation of fluid in this cavity. It appears in both sexes from the usual causes of inflammatory disease. Unwholesome diet, the drastic operation of purgatives, external injuries, the suppression of accustomed secretions and discharges, all are exciting causes of dropsy.

The animal has suffered materially from mange, which has been apparently cured: the itchiness and eruption altogether disappear, but many weeks do not elapse ere ascites begins to be seen, and the abdomen is gradually distended with fluid. When this appears in young and healthy animals, it may be conquered; but when there has been previous disease of almost any kind, comparatively few patients permanently recover. Irritability of the stomach, and a small and accelerated pulse, are unfavourable. If the operation of tapping has taken place, at all times there is danger; but, if there is a thick, brown, albuminous or fetid discharge, it is very unlikely that any permanent advantage will result from the operation.

We will introduce a few cases as they occur in our clinical records.

'November 7th, 1821'.--A spaniel, nine years old, had been, during four months, alternately asthmatic or mangy, or both. Within the last few days she had apparently increased in size. I was sent for. The first touch of the abdomen betrayed considerable fluctuation. She likewise had piles, sore and swelled. I ordered an alterative ball to be given morning and night.

'8th'. One of the balls has been given, and two doses of castor oil; but no effect has been produced. An injection was administered.

'9th'. A small evacuation of water has been produced, and the bowels have been slightly opened. Give a dose of the castor-oil mixture.

'10th'. The obstruction has been removed; the enlargement is somewhat diminished; much water has passed. Give an alterative ball every morning.

'14th'. The alteratives have been continued, and there is a slow but evident decrease of the abdomen.

'18th'. I cannot detect any effusion in the abdomen. Give a pill every alternate day for a fortnight. At the expiration of this period the dog was apparently well.

'April 23d', 1822.--A terrier, ten years old, had cough and mange, which ceased. The belly for the first time began to enlarge, and on feeling the dog considerable fluctuation was evident. He would not eat, but he drank immoderately. Give daily a ball consisting of tonic and physic mist., with powdered digitalis and tartrate of iron.

'May 6th'.--He is in better spirits, feeds tolerably well, but is rather increased in size. Give daily a ball of tartrate of iron, digitalis, ginger, and a grain of calomel.

22'd'. Much thinner, the belly very considerably diminished: a slight fluctuation is still to be perceived. Continue medicine, with a half-grain only of calomel.

'July 17th'.--The medicine has been regularly given, and the water of the abdomen has rapidly disappeared, until a fortnight ago: since that time it has been once more filling. The medicine was ordered to be repeated.

'August 6th'.--The medicine has once more produced its proper effect, and the fluid has disappeared.

On the '16th', however, the fluctuation was again too plainly felt, and the owner determined to have nothing more to do with the case. The animal was never brought again, nor could I trace it. The dog might have been saved if the owner had done it justice.

As soon as dropsy appears to be established, proper medicines must be resorted to. Foxglove, nitre, and ginger should be first tried in the proportional doses of one, ten, and eight grains, given morning and night. If this does not succeed, iodine from half-a-grain to a grain may be given morning and night, and a weak solution of iodine rubbed on the belly.

This being ineffectual, recourse may be had to tapping, taking care that the trocar is not plunged sufficiently deep to wound the intestines. The place for the operation is directly on the 'linea alba', or middle line of the belly, and about midway between the pubis and the navel. The whole of the intestinal fluid may be suffered to escape. A bandage should then be applied round the belly, and retained there a week or more.

Mr. Blaine very properly states, that the difference between fatness and dropsy is, that the belly hangs pendulous in dropsy, while the back bone stands up, and the hips are protruded through the skin; while the hair is rough, and the feeling of the coat is peculiarly harsh. It may be distinguished from pregnancy by the teats enlarging, in the latter case, as gestation advances, and the young ones may occasionally be felt to move. In addition to this it may be stated, that the presence of water is readily and unerringly detected. If the right hand is laid on one side of the belly, and the other side is gently struck with the left hand, an undulating motion will be readily perceived.

In old dogs, dropsy, under the title of "anasarca," is an unfrequent but occasional accompaniment of ascites. If pressure is made on any particular parts, they yield and continue depressed for a longer or shorter period of time, and slowly and by degrees regain their natural form. The skin is dry and distended, and with no natural action; the circulation is languid and small, the muscular powers are diminished, the animal is unquiet, the thirst is great, the tongue is pale, the appetite diminished, and the limbs are swelled. The best mode, of treatment is the infliction of some very small punctures in the distended skin, and the application of gentle friction. The majority of cases of this kind are usually fatal, and so is almost every case of encysted dropsy.

A dog had cough in February, 1825. Various medicines were administered, and at length the cough almost suddenly ceased, and evident ascites appeared. The thirst was insatiable, the dog would not touch food, and he was unable to lie down more than two minutes at a time.

Digitalis, cream of tartar, and hydrarg. submur. were given on the 9th April.

On the 13th he was much worse, and apparently dying. He had been unable to rise for the last twelve hours, and lay panting. I punctured the abdomen, and four quarts of fluid were evacuated.

'14th'. The panting continues. The dog will not eat, but he can lie down in any posture.

'15th'. The panting is diminished, the appetite is returning, and water continues to ooze from the wound,

'17th'. The wound healed on the night of the 15th, and already the fluid begins to collect. The medicine still continued.

'20th'. The spirits good, and strength improving; but the belly is evidently filling, and matter is discharged from both the nose and eyes.

'26th'. The swelling a little diminished, respiration easy, and the dog walking comfortably about, and feeding well.

'May 13th'.--The swelling, which for some days past diminished, is now again increasing; but the dog is strong and breathes easily. Medicine as before.

'24th.'. The dog is thinner, weaker, filling fast, and the thirst excessive. [Symbol: Rx]: Crem. tart., ferri tart. [Symbol: ounce] ij., pulv. flor. anthemid. [Symbol: ounce] iiij., conser. ros. q. s.: divide in bol. xii.: cap. in dies.

'27th'. During two days he has been unable to lie down more than a minute at a time. Again tapped: fully as much fluid was evacuated as before; but there is now blood mingling with it.

30th. Much relieved by the tapping, and breathes with perfect ease; but, now that the enormous belly is reduced, the dog is very thin. Bol. continued.

June 8th. Within the last three days the animal has filled again with extraordinary rapidity. [Symbol: Rx;]: Ferr. tart. [Symbol: scruple] j., opii. gr. 1/4, pulv. gentianæ [Symbol: scruple] j., cons. ros. q. s.: f. bol. capiend. in dies.

13th. Is again strangely distended; I advised, or rather solicited, that it might be destroyed; but this not being granted, I once more tapped him. At least a gallon of dark-coloured fluid was evacuated.

22d. Again rapidly filling, but not losing either flesh or strength.

July 4th.--Once more punctured, and a gallon of dark-coloured fluid evacuated.

12th. Again filling and rapidly losing flesh and strength.

26th. Once more tapped: immediately after which he appeared to be revived, but almost immediately began again to fill.

Aug. 2d.--He had eaten tolerably; appeared to have nothing more than usual the matter with him, when, being missed for an hour, he was found dead. No examination was permitted.

In 1824 a spaniel, six years old, was brought to the infirmary. It had had an asthmatic cough, which had left it. It was now hollow in the flanks, the belly pendulous, and an evident fluctuation of water. The owner would not consent to any operation. An aloetic physic-ball, however, was given every fifth day, and a ball, composed of tartrate of iron, digitalis, nitre, and antimonial powder, on every intermediate morning and night. The water evidently accumulated; the dog was sent for, and died in the course of a week.

There are a few medicines that may be useful in arresting the effusion of the fluid; but they too often fail in producing any considerable benefit. The fox-glove is, perhaps, possessed of the greatest power, combined with nitre, squills, and bitartrate of potash. At other times chamomile, squills, and spirit of nitrous ether, may be tried.

The following case, treated by the administration of iodine, by Professor Dick, is important:--

A black and tan coloured retriever was sent to me labouring under ascites. He was tapped, and two quarts of fluid abstracted. Tonics, combined with diuretics were given, but the fluid continued to accumulate, and in three weeks he was again tapped, and another two quarts drawn away. The disease still went on, and a fortnight afterwards a similar quantity was withdrawn. Various remedies were tried in order to check the power of the disease, but without effect, and the abdomen again became as much distended with the effused serum as before.

He was then put under a course of iodine, which soon began to show its beneficial influence by speedily allaying his excessive thirst; and in about a month the whole of the effused fluid was absorbed, although from the size of the abdomen it must have amounted to a similar quantity to that drawn off on the previous occasions. The dog's appetite soon returned; he gained flesh rapidly, and has continued quite well, and, from being a perfect skeleton, soon became overloaded with fat.

Induced by the great benefit derived in this case from the iodine, I took the opportunity of trying it on a Newfoundland dog similarly affected. He was put on a course of iodine, and the quantity of the drug was gradually increased. As absorption rapidly commenced, the fluid was completely taken up; but, partly in consequence of pushing the medicine too far, and partly from extensive disease in the liver, unfavourable symptoms took place, and he sunk rather unexpectedly. Still, however, from the obvious and decided advantage derived from the medicine, I have no doubt that iodine will be found one of the most efficient remedies in dropsy in dogs.

Iodine is a truly valuable drug. When first introduced into veterinary practice it was observed that it readily accomplished the reduction of the enlarged glands that frequently remain after catarrh; but it was presently evident that it reduced almost every kind of tumour, even the growth of tubercles in the lungs. Professor Morton, in his Manual of Pharmacy, has admirably described the different combinations of iodine.

THE LIVER

of the dog seems to follow a law of comparative anatomy, that its bulk shall be in an inverse proportion of that of the lungs. The latter are necessarily capacious; for they need a large supply of arterial blood, in order to answer to their rapid expenditure when the utmost exertion of strength and speed is required. The liver is, therefore, restricted in its size and growth. Nevertheless, it has an important duty to fulfil, namely, to receive the blood that is returned from the intestines, to separate from the blood, or to secrete, by means of it, the bile; and then to transmit the remaining portion of it to the lungs, where it undergoes the usual process of purification, and is changed to arterial blood. In the performance of this office, the liver often undergoes a state of inflammation, and disease ensues, inveterate, and setting at defiance every means of cure. Both the skin and the urine become tinged with a yellow effusion. The animal is dull, and gradually wastes away.

In a few days the yellow hue becomes more intense, and particularly on the cuticle, the conjunctiva, the iris, the gums, and the lips. A state of fever becomes more and more perceptible, and there are alternations of cold and heat. The pulse varies from 80 to 120; the dry tongue hangs from the mouth; the appetite ceases, but the animal is peculiarly desirous of cold water. The dog becomes restless; he seeks to hide himself; and he groans, if the parts in the neighbourhood of the liver are pressed upon.

Frequent vomitings now appear, slimy, and evidently containing gall. The animal becomes visibly thinner, obstinately refuses all solid food, and only manifests thirst. He begins to stagger as he walks; he withdraws himself from observation; he anxiously seeks some dark place where he may lay himself with his chest and belly resting on the cold ground, his fore legs stretched out before him, and his hind legs almost as far behind him. The fever increases, the skin becomes of a dark yellow colour, the mucous membrane of the mouth and conjunctiva is of a dirty red, the expired air is evidently hot, the gaze is anxious, the urine is of a saffron yellow, or even darker: in short, there now appears every symptom of inflammation of the liver, with jaundice.

As the disease proceeds the animal begins to vomit masses of a yellowish green substance, occasionally mixed with blood. He wastes away to a skeleton, he totters in his walk, he is half unconscious, the pulse becomes weak and interrupted, the temperature sinks, and death ensues.

The duration and course of the disease are deceptive. It occasionally proceeds so insidiously that several days are suffered to pass before the owner perceives any marks of disease, or seeks any aid. The duration of the disease is usually from ten to twelve days. It terminates in congestion of blood in the liver, or a gradual restoration to health. The latter can only take place in cases where the inflammation has proceeded very slowly; where the commencement and progress of the disease could be discovered by debility and slight yellowness of the skin, and especially where speedy recourse has been had to medical aid.

The predisposing causes of this disease are often difficult to discover. The dog, in warm climates, seems to have a natural disposition to it. As exciting causes, atmospheric influence may be reckoned, sultry days, cold nights, and damp weather. Other occasional causes may be found in violent falls, bruises, and overfeeding. Fat petted dogs that are easily overheated by exertion are often attacked by this disease. The result of the disease depends on its duration, course, and complication. If it is attended to early, it can generally be cured. If it has existed for several days, and the fever has taken on a typhoid character--if the yellow hue is perceptible--the appetite failing, and vomiting ensuing, the cure is doubtful; and, if inflammation of the stomach has taken place, with high fever, vomiting of blood, wasting away, and fits occurring, there is no chance of cure.

When simple jaundice alone is visible, a moderate laxative of sulphate of magnesia and tartaric acid, in conjunction with some aromatic and mucilaginous fluid, or, quite in the beginning of the disease, an emetic, will be found of considerable service; but, when the yellow colour has become more intense, and the animal will no longer eat, and the fever and weakness are increased, it is necessary to give calomel, tartar-emetic, camphor, and opium, in the form of pills, and to rub some strong liniment on the region of the liver: the doses of calomel, however, must be very small. If inflammation of the stomach appears, mucilaginous fluids only must be given. Bleeding may be of service in the commencement of the disease, but afterward it is hurtful.

This is an account of hepatitis as it occasionally appears, and particularly on the Continent; but it does not often assume so virulent a character in our country. There is often restlessness, thirst, and sickness, accompanied by much prostration of strength; or general heat and tenderness. Occasionally there is purging; but much oftener constipation, that bids defiance to almost every medicine. The principal or almost only hope of cure consists in bleeding, physicking, and blistering on the right side.

Of bilious disease, assuming the character of inflammation, we have too many cases. It may be spontaneous or brought on by the agency of other affections. Long-continued and inveterate mange will produce it. It is often connected with, or produced by, distemper, or a dull inflammatory disease of the liver, and it is generally accompanied by pustular eruption on the belly. The skin is usually tinged of a yellow hue, and the urine is almost invariably impregnated with bile. The suffusion which takes place is recognised among sportsmen by the term "yellows." The remedy should be some mercurial, with gentian and aloes given twice in the day, and mercurial ointment well rubbed in once in the day. If this treatment is steadily pursued, and a slight soreness induced in the mouth, the treatment will usually be successful. Mr. Blaine observes,

"A moderate soreness of the mouth is to be encouraged and kept up. I have never succeeded in removing the complaint without it."

JAUNDICE.

M. W. Leblanc, of Paris, has given an interesting account of the causes and treatment of 'jaundice' in the dog.

The prevailing symptom of this disease in the dog is a yellow discoloration of the skin and the mucous membranes of greater or less intensity. It generally announces the existence of very serious disease, as inflammation of the liver and its excretory ducts, or of the gall-bladder, or the stomach, or small intestines, or contraction or 'obliteration' of the excretory ducts of the liver, in consequence of inflammation of these vessels, or the presence of concrete substances formed from the bile. The dogs in which he found the most decided traces of this disease laboured under diarrhea, with stools of a reddish brown or black colour for one, two or three days.

The causes of jaundice are chiefly over-fatigue (thus, greyhounds are more subject to it than pointers), immersions in water, fighting, emetics or purgatives administered in over-doses, the repeated use of poisonous substances not sufficiently strong at once to destroy the animal, the swallowing of great quantities of indigestible food, and contusions of the abdominal viscera, especially about the region of the liver. The most serious, if not the most common cause, is cold after violent and long-continued exercise; and especially when the owners of dogs, seeing them refuse their food after a long chase, give them powerful purgatives or emetics.

The treatment should have strict relation to the real or supposed cause of jaundice, and its most evident concomitant circumstances. Some of these symptoms are constant and others variable. Among the first, whatever be the cause of the disease, we reckon acceleration of the pulse; fever, with paroxysms of occasional intensity; and a yellow or reddish-yellow discoloration of the urine. Among the second are constipation, diarrhoea, the absence or increase of colour in the faecal matter, whether solid or fluid. When they are solid, they are usually void of much colour; when, on the contrary, there is diarrhea, the fæces are generally mingled with blood more or less changed. Sometimes the dejections are nearly black, mixed with mucus. It is not unusual for a chest affection to be complicated with the lesions of the digestive organs, which are the cause of jaundice.

With these leading symptoms there are often others connected that are common to many diseases; such as dryness and heat of the mouth, a fetid smell, a staggering gait, roughness of the hair, and particularly of that of the back; an insatiable thirst, accompanied by the refusal of all food; loss of flesh, which occasionally proceeds with astonishing rapidity; a tucked-up flank, with hardness and tenderness of the anterior part of the belly.

The jaundice which is not accompanied with fever, nor indeed with any morbid change but the colour of the skin, will require very little treatment. It will usually disappear in a reasonable time, and M. Leblanc has not found that any kind of treatment would hasten that disappearance.

When any new symptom becomes superadded to jaundice, it must be immediately combated. Fever, injection of the vessels of the conjunctiva, constipation, diarrhoea, or the discoloration of the urine, require one bleeding at least, with some mucilaginous drinks. Purgatives are always injurious at the commencement of the disease.

"I consider," says M. Leblanc, "this fact to be of the utmost importance. Almost the whole of the dogs that have been brought to me seriously ill with jaundice, have been purged once or more; and either kitchen salt, or tobacco, or jalap, or syrup of buckthorn, or emetic tartar, or some unknown purgative powders, have been administered.

"Bleeding should be resorted to, and repeated if the fever continues, or the animal coughs, or the respiration be accelerated. When the pulse is subdued, and the number of pulsations are below the natural standard--if the excrements are still void of their natural colour--if the constipation continues, or the animal refuses to feed--an ounce of manna dissolved in warm water should be given, and the dog often drenched with linseed tea. If watery diarrhoea should supervene, and the belly is not hot nor tender, a drachm or more, according to the size of the dog, of the sulphate of magnesia or soda should be administered, and this medicine should be repeated if the purging continues; more especially should this aperient be had recourse to when the fæces are more or less bloody, there being no fever nor peculiar tenderness of the belly.

"When the liquid excrement contains much blood, and that blood is of a deep colour, all medicines given by the mouth should be suspended, and frequent injections should be thrown up, consisting of thin starch, with a few drops of laudanum. Too much cold water should not be allowed in this stage of the disease. Injections, and drinks composed of starch and opium, are the means most likely to succeed in the black diarrhoea, which is so frequent and so fatal, and which almost always precedes the fatal termination of all the diseases connected with jaundice.

"In simple cases of jaundice the neutral salts have seldom produced much good effect; but I have obtained considerable success from the diascordium, in doses of half a drachm to a drachm.

"Great care should be taken with regard to the diet of the dog that has had jaundice, with bloody or black diarrhoea; for the cases of relapse are frequent and serious and almost always caused by improper or too abundant food. A panada of bread, with a little butter, will constitute the best nourishment when the dog begins to recover his appetite. From this he may be gradually permitted to return to his former food. Most especially should the animal not be suffered to take cold, or to be left in a low or damp situation. This attention to the food of the convalescent dog may be thought to be pushed a little too far; but experience has taught me to consider it of the utmost importance, and it is neither expensive nor troublesome."

THE SPLEEN AND PANCREAS.

The spleen is generally regarded as an appendage to the absorbent system. Tiedemann and Gmelin consider that its specific function is to secrete from the blood a fluid which possesses the property of coagulation, and which is carried to the thoracic duct, and then, being united with the chyle, converts it into blood, and causes an actual communication between the arterial and absorbent systems. According, however, to Dr. Bostock, there is a fatal objection to this, namely, that animals have been known to live an indefinite length of time after the removal of the spleen, without any obvious injury to their functions, which could not have been the case if the spleen had been essentially necessary for so important a process.

A knowledge of the diseases of the spleen in the dog appears to be less advanced than in any other animal. In the cases that I have seen, the earliest indications were frequent vomiting, and the discharge of a yellow, frothy mucus. The animal appeared uneasy, shivering, the ears cold, the eyes unnaturally protuberant, the nostrils dilated, the flanks agitated, the respiration accelerated, and the mucous membranes pale. The best treatment I know is the administration, twice in the day, of a ball composed of a grain of calomel and the same quantity of aloes, and five grains of ginger. The dog frequently cries out, both when he is moved and when he lies on his bed. In the course of three days the yellow mucus is generally disappearing, and the expression of pain is materially diminished.

If the bowels are much constipated after two days have passed, two scruples of aloes may be given, and a grain of calomel; frequent injections may also be administered.

We are almost totally ignorant of the functions of the 'pancreas'. It probably is concerned in assimilating the food, and converting the chyme of the stomach into chyle.

INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEY

is a serious and dangerous malady. This organ is essentially vascular in its texture; and although it is small in volume, yet, on account of the quantity of blood which it contains, and the rapidity with which its secretions are performed, it is disposed to frequent and dangerous inflammation. The immediate causes of inflammatory action in this viscus are blows and contusions in the lumbar region; hard work long continued, and the imprudent use of stimulating substances employed as aphrodisiacs; the presence of calculi in the kidney, and the arrest of the urine in the bladder. The whole of the kidney may be affected with anæmia or defect of blood, or this may be confined to the cortical substance, or even to the tubular. The kidneys are occasionally much larger than usual, without any other change of structure; or simple hypertrophy may affect but one of them. They are subject to atrophy, which may be either general or partial; or one of the kidneys may be completely wanting, and this evidently the consequence of violence or disease.

Hydatids, though seldom met with in the human kidney, are not unfrequently found in that of the dog. All these are circumstances that have not received sufficient attention.

CALCULOUS CONCRETIONS

are of more frequent occurrence than is generally imagined, but they are not confined to the kidneys; there is scarcely a portion of the frame in which they have not been found, particularly in the brain, the glandular substance, and the coats of the intestines.

I cannot say with Mr. Blaine that I have seen not less than 40 or 50 calculi in my museum; but I have seen too many fearful examples of the complaint. There has been usually great difficulty in the urinary evacuation; and at length one of the calculi enters the urethra, and so blocks up the flow of the urine that mortification ensues.

M. Lautour relates a case of renal calculus in a dog. He had occasionally voided his urine with some difficulty, and had walked slowly and with evident pain. August 30, 1827, a sudden exacerbation came on, and the dog was dreadfully agitated. He barked and rolled himself on the ground almost every minute; be made frequent attempts to void his urine, which came from him drop by drop. When compelled to walk, his hind and fore legs seemed to mingle together, and his loins were bent into a perfect curve; his flanks were drawn in; he could scarcely be induced to eat; and he evidently suffered much in voiding his fæces. Mild and demulcent liquids were his only food. Warm baths and injections were applied almost unceasingly, and in eight days he seemed to have perfectly gained his health.

In March, in the following year, the symptoms returned with greater intensity. His hind limbs were dragged after him; he rapidly lost flesh, and his howlings were fearful and continuous. The same mode of treatment was adopted without any good effect, and, his cries continuing, he was destroyed.

The stomach and intestines were healthy. The bladder was enlarged from the thickness and induration of its parietes; the mucous membrane of it was covered with ecchymoses; the kidneys were three or four times their natural size; and the pelvis contained a calculus weighing 126 grains, composed of 58 grains of uric acid and 58 of ammonia, with 10 grains of phosphate of lime.

Of the nature and causes of urinary calculi in the bladder we know very little. We only know that some solid body finds its way or is formed there, gradually increases in size, and at length partially or entirely occupies the bladder. Boerhaave has given a singular and undeniable proof of this. He introduced a small round pebble into the bladder of a dog. The wound perfectly healed. A few months afterwards the animal was killed, and there was found a calculus of considerable size, of which the pebble was the nucleus.

Occasionally the pressure of the bladder on the calculus which it contains is exceedingly great, so much so, indeed, as to crush the calculus. A small calculus may sometimes be forcibly extracted, or cut down upon and removed; but when the calculus is large, a catheter or bougie must be passed up the penis as far as the curve in the urethra, and then somewhat firmly held with the left hand, and pressing against the urethra. A scalpel should be taken, and an incision made into the urethra. The catheter being now withdrawn, and the finger or a pair of forceps introduced into the bladder, the calculus may be grasped and extracted.

There are some instances in which as many as 20 or 30 small calculi have been taken from the bladder of a dog. Twice I have seen calculi absolutely crushed in the bladder of a dog; and Mr. Blaine says that he found no fewer than 40 or 50 in the bladder of a Newfoundland dog. One of them had passed out into the urethra, and had so blocked up the passage that the flow of urine was prevented, and the animal died of mortification.

With much pleasure I refer to the details of Mr. Blaine with regard to the management of 'vesical calculi'.

"When a small calculus," says he, "obstructs the urethra, and can be felt, it may be attempted to be forced forward through the urethra to the point of the penis, whence it may be extracted by a pair of forceps. If it cannot be so moved, it may be cut down upon and removed with safety; but when one or more stones are within the bladder, we must attempt lithotomy, after having fully satisfied ourselves of their existence there by the introduction of the sound; to do which it must be remembered that the urethra of the dog in passing the bladder proceeds nearly in a direct line backwards, and then, making an acute angle, it passes again forwards to the bladder. It must be therefore evident, that when it becomes necessary to introduce a catheter, sound, or bougie, it must first be passed up the penis to the extremity of this angle; the point of the instrument must then be cut down upon, and from this opening the instrument may be readily passed forward into the bladder. The examination made, and a stone detected, it may, if a very small one, be attempted to be pushed forward by means of a finger passed up the anus into the urethra; but, as this could be practicable only where the dog happened to be a large one, it is most probable that nothing short of the operation of lithotomy would succeed. To this end, the sound being introduced, pass a very small gorget, or otherwise a bistoury, along its groove into the bladder, to effect an opening sufficient to admit of the introduction of a fine pair of forceps, by which the stone may be laid up and extracted." 'Blaine's Canine Pathology', p. 180.

INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER

is of frequent occurrence in the dog; it is also occasionally observed in the horse and the ox. It sometimes appears as an epizootic. It is generally announced by anxiety, agitation, trembling of the hinder limbs, frequent attempts to urine, vain efforts to accomplish it, the evacuation small in quantity, sometimes clear and aqueous, and at other times mucous, laden with sediment, thick and bloody, escaping by jets, painfully and with great difficulty, and then suddenly rushing out in great quantity. To this list of symptoms colic may often be added. The animal drinks with avidity, but seldom eats much, unless at the commencement of the complaint. The skin is hard and dry, he looks at his flanks, and his back and flanks are tender when pressed upon.

During the latter portion of my connexion with Mr. Blaine, this disease assumed an epidemic character. There was a great drought through almost every part of the country. The disease was characterised by general uneasiness; continual shifting of the posture; a tucked-up appearance; an anxious countenance; a quick and noisy pulse; continued panting; the urine voided in small quantities, sometimes discharged drop by drop, or complete stoppage of it. The belly hot, swelled, and tender to the touch; the dog becoming strangely irritable, and ready to bite even his master.

'1st May', 1824.--Two dogs had been making ineffectual attempts to void their urine for nearly two days. The first was a terrier, and the other a Newfoundland. The terrier was bled, placed in a warm bath, and an aloetic ball, with calomel, administered. He was bled a second time in the evening, and a few drops of water were discharged. On the following day, the urine slowly passed involuntarily from him; but when he attempted to void any, his efforts were totally ineffectual. Balls composed of camphor, pulv. uva ursi, tinct. ferri mur., mass purg., and pulv. lini. et gum. arab., were administered morning, noon, and night.

On the 5th the urine still passed involuntarily. Cold lotions were employed, and tonic and astringent medicines administered, with castor oil. He gradually got well, and no trace of the disease remained until June the 6th, when he again became thin and weak, and discharged much bloody urine, but apparently without pain. The uva ursi, oak bark, and powdered gum-arabic were employed.

On the 12th he had become much better, and so continued until the 1st of July, when he again exhibited the same complaint more violently than before. He was exceedingly tender on the loins, and screamed when he was touched. He was bled, returned to his uva ursi and powdered gum, and recovered. I saw him two years afterwards apparently well.

The Newfoundland dog exhibited a similar complaint, with nearly the same accompaniments.

'May' 1.--He was disinclined to move; his belly was hard and hot, and he was supposed to be costive. Gave an aloetic ball with iron.

2d. He has endeavoured, in vain, several times to void his urine. He walks stiffly with his back bound. Subtract eight ounces of blood; give another physic-ball, and apply cold affusion to the loins.

3d. He frequently attempts to stale, and passes a little urine at each time; he still walks and stands with his back bound. Syr. papav. et rhamni, with tinct. ferr. mur., a large spoonful being given morning and night.

4th. He again tries, ineffectually, to void his urine. Mist. et pulv.

5th. Unable to void a drop of urine; nose hot; tongue hangs down; pants considerably; will not eat; the countenance has an anxious character. Bleed to twelve ounces; apply cold affusion. Medicine as before, with cold affusion.

6th. Appears to be in very great pain; not a drop of water has passed from him. Medicine and other treatment as before. In the evening he lay down quietly. On the next morning he was found dead. All the viscera were sound except the bladder, which was ruptured; the abdomen contained two quarts of bloody fluid. The mucous membrane of the bladder appeared to be in the highest state of inflammation. It was almost black with extravasated blood. On the neck of the bladder was an enlargement of the size of a goose's egg, and almost filling the cavity of the pelvis. On cutting into it, more than two ounces of pus escaped.

On June 29, 1833, a poodle was brought to me. He had not been observed to pass any urine for two days. He made frequent attempts to void it, and cried dreadfully. The bladder could be felt distended in the abdomen. I put him into a warm bath, and took from him a pound of blood. He seemed to be a little relieved. I did not leave him until after midnight, but was soon roused by his loud screams, and the dog was also retching violently. The cries and retching gradually abated, and he died. The bladder had burst, and the parietes were in a dreadful state of inflammation.

A dog had laboured under incontinence of urine more than two months. The water was continually dropping from him. The servant told me that, three months before, he had been shut into a room two days, and, being a cleanly animal, would not stale until he was liberated. Soon after that the incontinence of urine was observed. I gave the usual tonic balls, with a small portion of opium, night and morning, and ordered cold water to be frequently dashed on the perinæum. A month afterwards he was quite well.

Comparatively speaking, 'profuse staling' is not a common disease, except when it is the consequence of bad food, or strong diuretics, or actual inflammation. The cause and the result of the treatment are often obscure. Bleeding, purging, and counter irritation, would be indicated to a certain extent, but the lowering system must not be carried too far. The medicine would probably be catechu, uva ursi, and opium.

At times blood mingles with the urine, with or without coagulation. The cause and the source of it may or may not be determined. Generally speaking it is the result of some strain or blow.

A terrier bitch, in January, 1820, had incontinence of urine. No swelling or injury could be detected. I used with her the simple tonic balls.

10th January'.--She is now considerably better, and only a few drops are observed.

2d February'.--The disease which had seemingly been conquered began again to reappear; the medicine had been neglected. Again have recourse to it.

4'th March'.--The disease now appears to be quite checked by the cold lotion and the balls.

A CASE OF RUPTURE OF THE BLADDER

This is a singular account, and stands almost alone.

The patient was a valuable spaniel belonging to that breed known as "The Duke of Norfolk's," and now possessed in its full perfection by the Earl of Albemarle. Professor Simonds shall give his own account:

I was informed that almost from a puppy to the time when he was two years old, the dog had always been delicate in his appearance, and was observed to void his urine with difficulty; but there were not sufficient indications of disease for the owner to suppose that medical attendance was necessary until within a few days of his death, and then, finding that the act of staling was effected with increased difficulty, and accompanied with extreme pain; that the dog refused his food, was feverish; that at length there were frequent or ineffective efforts to expel the urine, the dog crying out from extremity of pain, and it was sufficiently evident that great mischief was going on, he was placed under my care; and even then he was walked a mile and a half to my infirmary.

My attention was immediately directed to him; the man who brought him informing me that he seemed much easier since he left home. On examination, I at once pronounced that he could not recover; in fact, that he was rapidly sinking; but, from his then state, I could give no opinion with regard to the precise nature or extent of his disease. He was placed upon a bed in an appropriate apartment, with directions not to be disturbed, and in a few hours he died.

The 'post-mortem' appearances were the abdomen containing from four to five pints of fluid, having much the character of, but more bloody than, that found in cases of ascites. The peritoneum seemed to be dyed from its immersion in this fluid, as it showed a general red hue, not apparently deeper in some parts than in others. There was an absence, to a great extent, of that beautiful appearance and well-marked course of the minute blood-vessels which accompany many cases of original peritonitis. Extending the examination, I found the bladder to be ruptured, and that the fluid of which I have spoken was to a large extent composed of urine, mingled with some other secretion from the peritoneal investure of the abdomen and its viscera, probably produced from the presence of an irritant, the urine being brought into direct contact with the membrane. Farther research showed that this rupture of the bladder was caused in the manner which I have stated. The 'post-mortem' examination displayed a chronic enlargement of the prostate gland of a considerable size, causing by its pressure a mechanical obstruction to the passage of the urine. Death in this instance was not immediately brought about by the abnormal state of the original organ affected; but the prostate gland, having early in the life of the animal become diseased, and, being gradually increased in size, became a cause of still more serious disease, attacking more important organs.

WORMS.

There are various kinds of worms to which the dog is subject; they have occasionally been confounded with each other; but they are essentially different in the situations which they occupy, and the effects which they produce.

The 'ascarides' are small thread-like worms, generally not more than six or ten lines in length, of a white colour, the head obtuse, and the tail terminating in a transparent prolongation. They are principally found in the rectum. They seem to possess considerable agility; and the itching which they set up is sometimes absolutely intolerable. To relieve this, the dog often drags the fundament along the ground.

All the domesticated animals are subject to the annoyance which these worms occasion. They roll themselves into balls as large as a nut, and become entangled so much with each other that it is difficult to separate them. Sometimes they appear in the stomach, and in such large masses that it is almost impossible to remove them by the act of vomiting. It has been said that packets of ascarides have been collected in the stomach containing more than one hundred worms. These collections are rarely or never got entirely rid of. Enormous doses of medicine may be given, and the worms may not be seen again for several weeks; but, at length, they reappear as numerous as ever.

Young dogs are exceedingly subject to them, and are with great difficulty perfectly freed from their attacks. Another species of worm is the 'teres'. It would resemble the earth-worm in its appearance, were it not white instead of a red colour. They are very common among dogs, especially young dogs, in whom they are often attended by fits. Occasionally they crawl into the stomach, and there produce a great deal of irritation.

Another, and the most injurious of the intestinal worms, is the 'taenia', or 'tape-worm'. It is many inches in length, almost flat in the greater part of its extent, and its two extremities are nearly or quite equal. Tape-worms associate in groups like the others, but they are not so numerous; they chiefly frequent the small intestines. They are sometimes apt to coil themselves, and form a mechanical obstruction which is fatal to the dog.

The presence of all these worms is readily detected. There is generally a dry, short cough, a staring coat, a hot and fetid breath, a voracious appetite, and a peculiar state of the bowels; alternately constipated to a great degree, or peculiarly loose and griping. In young dogs the emaciated appearance, stinted growth, fetid breath, and frequent fits, are indications not to be mistaken.

At other times, however, the dog is filled with worms with scarcely any indication of their presence. Mr. Blaine very properly remarks that it docs not follow, because no worms are seen to pass away, that there are none: neither when they are not seen does it follow even that none pass; for, if they remain long in the intestines after they are dead, they become digested like other animal matter.

The means of expelling or destroying worms in the intestines of the dog are twofold: the first and apparently the most natural mode of proceeding, is the administration of purgatives, and usually of drastic ones; but there is much danger connected with this; not merely the fæces will be expelled, but a greater or less portion of the mucus that lines the intestinal canal. The consequence of this will be griping and inflammation to a very dangerous extent. Frequent doses of Epsom salts have been given; but not always with success, and frequently with griping. Mercurial medicines have been tried; but they have not always succeeded, and have often produced salivation. One method of expelling the worm has been adopted which has rarely failed, without the slightest mischief--the administration of glass finely powdered. Not a particle of it penetrates through the mucus that lines the bowels, while it destroys every intestinal worm. The powdered glass is made into a ball with lard and ginger.

The following account of the symptoms caused by taenia may be interesting. A dog used to be cheerful, and particularly fond of his master; but gradually his countenance became haggard, his eyes were red, his throat was continually filled with a frothy spume, and he stalked about with an expression of constant inquietude and suffering. These circumstances naturally excited considerable fear with regard to the nature of his disease, and he was shut up in a court, with the intention of his being destroyed. Thus shut up, he furiously threw himself upon every surrounding object, and tore them with his teeth whenever he could seize them. He retired into one of the corners of the court, and there he was continually rubbing his nose, as it were to extract some foreign body; sometimes he bit and tore up the earth, barking and howling violently; his hair stood on end, and his flanks were hollow.

During the whole of his disease he continued to recognise his master. He ran to him at the slightest word. He refused nothing to drink; but he would not eat. He was killed on account of the fear excited among the neighbours.

The veterinary surgeon who attended him suspected that there was some affection of the head, on account of the strange manner in which he had rubbed and beaten it. The superior part of the nose was opened, and two tæniæ; lanceolatæ were found: it was plain enough that they were the cause of all the mischief.

The proprietor of the dog nevertheless believed that it was a case of rabies; he had the caustic applied to his hands, and could not persuade himself that he was safe until he had been at the baths of Bourbonne. [4]

There is a worm inhabiting the stomach of young dogs, the 'Ascaris Marginata', a frequent source of sickness and occasionally of spasmodic colic, by rolling itself into knots. It seems occasionally to take a dislike to its assigned residence, and wanders into the oesophagus, but rarely into the larger intestines. A dog had a severe cough, which could not be subdued by bleeding or physic, or sedative or opiate medicines. He was destroyed, and one of these ascarides was found in the trachea. Others find their way into the nasal cavity; and a dreadful source of irritation they are when they are endeavouring to escape, in order to undergo one of the changes of form to which they are destined, or when they have been forced into the nostril in the act of vomiting.

I once had a dog as a patient, whose case, I confess, I did not understand. He would sneeze and snort, and rub his head and nose along the carpet. I happened to say that the symptoms in some respects resembled those of rabies, and yet, that I could not satisfy myself that the dog was rabid. The mention of rabies was sufficient, and in defiance of my remonstrances the animal was destroyed.

The previous symptoms led me to examine the nasal cavity, and I found two of these ascarides, one concealed in the middle and the other in the upper meatus, through neither of which could any strong current of air be forced, and from which the ascarides could not be dislodged.

Worms may be the cause of sudden death in a dog. The following case, communicated by Professor Dick, illustrates this fact:

I lately had the body of a dog sent to me: his owner sent the following letter by the same conveyance.

"My keeper went out shooting yesterday morning with the dog which I now send to you. He was quite lively, and apparently well, during the former part of the day; but towards evening he was seized with violent vomiting. When he came home he refused to eat, and this morning about eight o'clock he died. As I have lost all my best dogs rather suddenly, I will thank you to have him examined, and the contents of his stomach analyzed; and have the kindness to inform me whether he has been poisoned, or what was the cause of his death."

On opening the abdomen, the viscera appeared quite healthy: the stomach was removed, and the contents were found to be more decidedly acid than usual. The acids were the muriatic and acetic: the finding of an increased quantity of these is far from being unusual. There was not a trace of arsenical, mercurial, nor any other metallic poison present. Of the vegetable poisons, I can only say there was not the slightest trace of the morbid effects of any of them. The pericardium and the left side of the thorax contained a small quantity of bloody serous fluid, and the heart was full of black blood. The left lung was a little inflamed. The trachea contained some frothy yellow mucous matter, similar to the contents of the stomach. In the larynx was found one of those worms occasionally inhabiting the cavities of the nose, and which had probably escaped from the nose while the dog had been hunting; and, lodging in the larynx, had destroyed the animal by producing spasms of the larynx. The worm was about one inch and a half in length, and had partly penetrated through the rima glottidis. Another worm about the same size was found in the left bronchia, and a still smaller one among the mucus of the trachea: there were also four others in the nose.

Some years ago I found some worms of the filacia species in the right ventricle of the heart of a dog, which had produced sudden death by interrupting the action of the valves.

The following is a curious case of tape-worm, by Mr. Reynold:

On an estate where a great quantity of rabbits are annually destroyed in the month of November, we have observed that several dogs that were previously in good health and condition soon became weak, listless, and excessively emaciated, frequently passing large portions of the tape-worm. This induced us to examine the intestines of several hares and rabbits; and, with, very few exceptions, we found each to contain a perfect tape-worm three to four feet in length. We then caused two of the dogs whose cases appeared the worst to be separated from the others, feeding them on potatoes, &c.; and, in eight or ten days, after voiding several feet of the worms, they were perfectly restored to their former strength and appearance. The worm disease, hitherto so formidable to the spaniel and pointer, may in a great measure be fairly attributed to the custom of giving them the intestines of their game, under the technical appellation of "the paunch." The facts above stated, in explaining the cause of the disease, at the same time suggest the remedy.

'A worm in the urethra of a dog'. M. Séon, veterinary surgeon of the Lancers of the Body Guard, was requested to examine a dog who strained in vain to void his urine, often uttering dreadful cries, and then eagerly licking his penis. M. Séon, after having tried in vain to abate the irritation, endeavoured to pass an elastic bougie. He perceived a conical body half an inch long protruding from the urethra with each effort of the dog to void his urine, and immediately afterwards returning into the urethra. He crushed it with a pair of forceps, and drew it out. It proved to be a worm resembling a strongylus, four and a half inches long. It was living, and moving about. M. Séon could not ascertain its species. The worm being extracted, the urine flowed, and the dog soon recovered. [5]

FISTULA IN THE ANUS.

This is a too frequent consequence of piles. It is often the result of the stagnation of hardened fæces in the rectum, which produces inflammation and ulceration, and frequently leaves a fistulous opening. If we may judge what the quadruped suffers by the sufferings of human beings, it is a sadly painful affair, whether the fistula is external or internal. Whether it may be cured by a mild stimulant daily inserted to the bottom of the abscess, or whether there is a communication with the opening of the rectum which buries itself in the cellular tissues around it, and requires an operation for its cure, it will require the assistance of a skilful surgeon to effect a cure in this case.

[Footnote 1: Tetanus observed on a Dog, by M. Debeaux.--'Pract. Med. Vet.' 1829, p. 543]

[Footnote 2: 'Blaine's Canine Pathology', p. 151.]

[Footnote 3: 'Proceedings of the Veterinary Medical Association', 1839-40]

[Footnote 4: 'Prat. Méd. Vét.' 1824, p. 14.]

[Footnote 5: 'Prat. Méd. Vét.', Fév. 1828.]

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