their lords, the animals are in a
fever of excitement; they back and run about--their eyes on fire, and
every muscle of their frames in motion. The stone is flung, and away goes
the dog at its topmost speed, so happy that it has lost its self-command.
If the missile should be small, the poor animal, in its eagerness to
seize, may unfortunately swallow it, and when that happens, the faithful
brute nearly always dies. The oesophagus or gullet of the dog is larger
than its intestines, and consequently the substance which can pass down
the throat may in the guts become impacted. Such too frequently follows
when stones are gulped; for hard things of this kind, though they should
be small enough to pass through the alimentary tube, nevertheless would
cause a stoppage; for a foreign body of any size, by irritating the
intestine, would provoke it to contract, or induce spasm; and the bowel
thus excited would close upon the substance, retaining it with a force
which could not be overcome. Persons, therefore, who like their dogs to
fetch and carry, should never use for this purpose any pebble so small as
to be dangerous, or rather, they should never use stones of any kind for
this purpose. The animal taught to indulge in this amusement seriously
injures its teeth, which during the excitement are employed with imprudent
violence, and the mouth sustains more injury than the game can recompense.

If a dog should swallow a stone, let the animal be immediately fed
largely; half-an-hour afterwards let thrice the ordinary dose of
antimonial wine be administered, and the animal directly afterwards be
exercised. Probably the pebble may be returned with the food when the
emetic acts. Should such not be the case, as the dog will not eat again,
all the thick gruel it can be made to swallow must be forced upon it, and
perhaps the stone may come away when this is vomited. Every effort must be
used to cause the substance to be ejected before it has reached the
bowels, since if it enters these, the doom is sealed. However, should such
be the case, the most violent and potent antispasmodics may be tried; and
under their influence I have known comparatively large bodies to pass. No
attempt must be made to quicken the passage by moulding or kneading the
belly; much less must any effort be used intended to push the substance
onward. The convolutions of the alimentary track are numerous, and the
bowels are not stationary; therefore we have no certainty