f scissors are commodities
which may all be required in emergency. The ergot, which must be used
with extreme caution and only when the labour pains have commenced, is
invaluable when parturition is protracted, and there is difficult
straining without result. Its effect is to contract the womb and expel
the contents. But when the puppies are expelled with ease it is
superfluous. For a bitch of 10 lb. in weight ten drops of the extract
of ergot in a teaspoonful of water should be ample, given by the
mouth. The scissors are for severing the umbilical cord if the mother
should fail to do it in her own natural way. Sometimes a puppy may be
enclosed within a membrane which the dam cannot readily open with
tongue and teeth. If help is necessary it should be given tenderly and
with clean fingers. Occasionally a puppy may seem to be inert and
lifeless, and after repeatedly licking it the bitch may relinquish all
effort at restoration and turn her attention to another that is being
born. In such a circumstance the rejected little one may be discreetly
removed, and a drop of brandy on the point of the finger smeared upon
its tongue may revive animation, or it may be plunged up to the neck
in warm water. The object should be to keep it warm and to make it
breathe. When the puppies are all born, their dam may be given a drink
of warm milk and then left alone to their toilet and to suckle them.
If any should be dead, these ought to be disposed of. Curiosity in
regard to the others should be temporarily repressed, and inspection
of them delayed until a more fitting opportunity. If any are then seen
to be malformed or to have cleft palates, these had better be removed
and mercifully destroyed.

It is the experience of many observers that the first whelps born in a
litter are the strongest, largest, and healthiest. If the litter is a
large one, the last born may be noticeably puny, and this disparity in
size may continue to maturity. The wise breeder will decide for
himself how many whelps should be left to the care of their dam. The
number should be relative to her health and constitution, and in any
case it is well not to give her so many that they will be a drain upon
her. Those breeds of dogs that have been most highly developed by man
and that appear to have the greatest amount of brain and intelligence
are generally the most prolific as to the number of puppies they
produce. St. Bernards, Pointers, Setters are notable for the usu