case," appear to give relief; but,
commonly, when the immediate excitation which their first operation
naturally calls forth passes away, debility ensues, and the termination is
not in harmony with the beginning. I once was very partial to emetics. I
now rarely make use of them, and have no reason to lament my change of
practice.

No notice will be bestowed upon those mysterious compounds known as
alteratives, sedatives, &c., which are given merely because habit has
sanctioned their administration. Names are in medicine dangerous things,
and give a currency to error which, to man and beast alike, has proved
fatal. Neither will any attempt be made to classify diseases; which
custom, though it has some advantages, is likely to mislead, by setting up
a system where no positive connexion can be demonstrated. The disorders
of the dog in this work will be treated of after no formal plan; but the
index must supply that want of arrangement, the absence of pretence to
which probably will give offence to regular students.

DISTEMPER.

Of all the diseases to which the dog is subject, this one is the most
dreaded. Writers have agreed it is the scourge of the canine race. Blaine
and Youatt speak of it as capricious and untractable; the French regard it
as incurable. The owners of dogs, despairing of benefit from regular
means, have for a long time been content to trust in charms and specifics.
Folly and cruelty have been embraced to accomplish that which kindness and
science appear unequal to perform; and one general feeling seems to be
entertained with regard to the distemper--most persons being agreed that
the disorder is not to be subdued by medicine, and that its fatality is
independent of the best efforts of man to check it.

My experience does not corroborate these various but harmonious accounts
and opinions. In my conviction, the disorder is feared only because it is
not understood, and is rendered worse by the injudicious attempts to
relieve it. I find it tractable, easily mastered, and when submitted to me
before the system is exhausted, I am very seldom disappointed by the
result of my treatment. It has for some time been my custom to tell those
who bring me an animal affected with this complaint, that if my
directions are strictly followed, the creature "_shall not die_." When
saying this, I pretend not to have life or death at my command, and the
mildest affections will sometimes terminate fatally; but I merely