ist. The grit,
dirt, bone, and filth that dogs will, spite of every precaution, manage
to obtain, must be frequent sources of piles, which without such
instigation would frequently appear. Bones, which people carelessly
conclude the dog should consume, it can in some measure digest; but it can
do this only partially when in vigorous health. Should the body be
delicate, such substances pass through it hardly affected by the powers of
assimilation; they become sharp and hard projections when surrounded by,
and fixed in the firm mass, which is characteristic of the excrement of
the dog. A pointed piece of bone, projecting from an almost solid body, is
nearly certain to lacerate the tender and soft membrane over which it
would have to be propelled; and though, as I have said, strong and
vigorous dogs can eat almost with impunity, and extract considerable
nourishment from bones, nevertheless they do not constitute a proper food
for these animals at any time. When the system is debilitated, the
digestion is always feeble; and, under some conditions of disease, I have
taken from the stomachs of dogs after death, in an unaltered state, meat,
which had been swallowed two days prior to death. It had been eaten and
had been retained for at least forty-eight hours, but all the functions
had been paralyzed, and it continued unchanged. If such a thing be
possible under any circumstances, then in the fact there is sufficient
reason why people should be more cautious in the mode of feeding these
creatures; for I have extracted from the rectums of dogs large quantities
of trash, such as hardened masses of comminuted bones and of cocoanut,
which, because the animal would eat it, the owners thought it to be
incapable of doing harm. Nature has not fitted the dog to thrive upon many
substances; certain vegetables afford it wholesome nourishment, but a
large share of that which is either wantonly or ignorantly given as food,
is neither nutritive nor harmless. Whatever injures the digestion, from
the disposition of the rectum to sympathise in all disorders of the great
mucous track, is likely to induce piles; and the anus of the animal is
often as indicative of the general state of the body as is the tongue of
man.

In perfect health the anus should be small, firm, close, and entirely
retracted; especially should it be cleanly. Any soil upon the part, or any
excrement adhering to the hair about its margin, is indicative of
derangement. If the