succession; and often small doses produce those
effects which the larger one seems to conceal. A pill containing any
sedative, with an alterative quantity of some expectorant, may be given
three times daily; but when the fit is on, I have gained the most
immediate benefit by the administration of ether and opium. From one to
four leeches to the chest, sometimes, are of service; but small ammoniacal
blisters applied to the sides, and frequently repeated, are more to be
depended upon. Trivial doses of antimonial wine or ipecacuanha wine, with
an occasional emetic, will sometimes give temporary ease; but the
last-named medicines are to be resorted to only after due consideration,
as they greatly lower the strength. Stomachics and mild tonics at the same
time are to be employed; but a cure is not to be expected. The treatment
cannot be absolutely laid down; but the judgment must be exercised, and
whenever the slightest improvement is remarked every effort must be made
to prevent a relapse.

HEPATITIS.

[Illustration: CHRONIC HEPATITIS.]

LIVER complaints were once fashionable. A few years ago the mind of Great
Britain was in distress about its bile, and blue pill with black draught
literally became a part of the national diet. At present nervous and
urinary diseases appear to be in vogue; but, with dogs, hepatic disorders
are as prevalent as ever. The canine liver is peculiarly susceptible to
disease. Very seldom have I dipped into the mysteries of their bodies but
I have found the biliary gland of these animals deranged; sometimes
inflamed--sometimes in an opposite condition--often enlarged--seldom
diminished--rarely of uniform color--occasionally tuberculated--and not
unfrequently as fat with disease as those are which have obtained for
Strasburg geese a morbid celebrity.

It is, however, somewhat strange that, notwithstanding the almost
universality of liver disease among petted dogs, the symptoms which denote
its existence are in these creatures so obscure and undefined as rarely to
be recognised. Very few dogs have healthy livers, and yet seldom is the
disordered condition of this important gland suspected. Various are the
causes which different authors, English and foreign, have asserted
produced this effect. I shall only allude to such as I can on my own
experience corroborate, and here I shall have but little to refer to.
Over-feeding and excessive indulgence are the sources to which I have
always traced i