In using this work as a guide to the homoeopathic treatment of canine diseases, the reader is particularly requested to "mark, learn, and inwardly digest" the following observations.

The rules respecting -

How to select the remedy;

What dose to give;

How often to give the dose; must be specially studied, and referred to after having settled what the disease is, and what remedy is indicated.

A few cases in illustration of the treatment will be found in the Appendix.

I. - Examination Of The Patient

This is the first thing to do when a dog is ill. The symptoms which it presents must be minutely inquired into, for two purposes: firstly, to determine the seat and nature of the disease; and, secondly, to obtain indications for the selection of the right remedy. Attention to the following points will be of service: -

1. The Organs Of Circulation

(1.) The heart should be examined by the hand, ear, or stethoscope being placed on the left side, behind the elbow-joint, to ascertain the force and rhythm of its action, and the character of its sounds, whether normal or abnormal.

(2.) Important information is gained by learning the state of the pulse, - whether regular or irregular, soft or hard, frequent or slow, etc. The pulse is felt by placing the fingers on the artery at the inside of the fore-leg, just above the knee. It must not be forgotten that the standard healthy pulse varies in frequency from 80 to 100 pulsations per minute; and, further, that its frequency and character vary with the age, size, sex, temperament, and breed of the patient.

2. The Respiratory System

(1.) Ascertain if the nose be hot or cold; dry or moist, covered or not with hardened mucus; if there be sneezing, or offensive smell, or indications of polypoid growths or foreign bodies in the nostrils.

(2.) The character of the breathing, - frequent, difficult, painful, laboured, etc.

(3.) If the expectoration, when there is any, be scanty or abundant; mucus or pus, or both; if expelled easily, or with the aid of vomiting.

(4.) If the cough be rare or frequent, painful, hoarse, croupy, barking, dry or moist, recent or chronic.

(5.) If both sides of the chest expand equally during breathing, or if one side expands more than the other.

(6.) If the sound be clear or dull when the lungs are percussed; if dull, noting the position.

(7.) If, on listening to the chest, the sounds attendant on respiration be natural or morbid; if the latter, ascertaining their character and marking their site.

3. The Digestive System

(1.) If the teeth are all, or only in part cut; rotten, broken, worn down, loose, black, incrusted with tartar.

(2.) If the tongue is bitten, swollen, inflamed, cut, or paralyzed on one side; if furred; moist or dry; or altered in colour.

(3.) If the mouth is hot and dry, or cool and moist; if the breath is offensive, or not; if the mucous membrane is inflamed on the gums, in company with the peculiar odour of mercurial poisoning and salivation.

(4.) If swallowing be difficult or painful, or attended with choking; examining the throat internally for bones, etc., and externally for enlarged glands, such as bronchocele.

(5.) If the stomach is disordered, as indicated by the appetite, thirst, vomiting, etc.; the vomit being specially observed as to appearance and smell; and, if necessary, analyzed in cases of suspected poisoning.

(6.) The size of the belly, whether hard, or soft, or painful; dull or clear when percussed, or fluctuating when tapped; containing tumours or foreign bodies; if there be diarrhoea, dysentery, constipation, piles; the character of the expelled excretions, as to colour, consistence, quantity; the existence of pregnancy.

(7.) The size, position, and feel of the liver; if there are indications of enlargement, or of jaundice.

4. Genito-Urinary System

(1.) The functions of the uterus; discharges from, or tumours connected with it.

(2.) The state of the vagina; if the seat of polypus, cancer, ulceration, displacement, discharge, or injury.

(3.) If the milk-glands or teats are tender, swollen, hard, cancerous, inflamed, etc.

(4.) If the penis or prepuce be inflamed or ulcerated; or the seat of fungous growths, etc.

(5.) Note the way in which urine is voided, and whether there is, or is not, a discharge of blood.

5. The Integumentary System

(1.) The skin, whether blotched, or mangy, or otherwise diseased; if the disease is partial or universal; the seat of morbid growth, dropsy, etc.; if hot or cold.

(2.) The state of the feet, the nails and pads especially.

(3.) If the dog is fat or lean.

6. The Nervous System

(1.) The shape and size of the head; whether the scalp is injured, or the skull fractured.

(2.) Insensibility, or profound coma.

(3.) If the special senses of sight, hearing, etc., are diminished or lost; noting at the same time the condition and colour of the eye, and the state of the ears.

(4.) If there are fits, convulsions, trembling, rigidity, palsy, or any peculiarity of movement when walking, such as avoiding, or rolling over obstacles in the way, or turning round and round.

(5.) The dog's manner should be watched; the way in which he sits or lies down, or bites or scratches himself, or avoids movement and observation, etc.

It would be easy to enlarge the objective symptoms of canine disease, but the above are sufficient as finger-posts in aid of practical observation and accurate diagnosis.

The above details of examination may also prove of service to purchasers of dogs. A dog may be pronounced sound, in which none of the foregoing symptoms can be discovered.

II. - How To Select The Remedies

The symptoms having been ascertained, the next step is to select the proper remedy for the disease. Under the "treatment" of each malady, a few remedies are given, with certain symptoms attached to each. That medicine, or those medicines, are to be given, whose symptoms correspond the most exactly with those of the disease. For instance, if the disease should be laryngitis, Aconite is to be given when the symptoms recorded in connexion with it, are present in the patient; and Spongia, when the symptoms recorded after it, are present. Should the symptoms of both these medicines be present together in the same case, then both medicines should be given, not mixed, but separately and in alternation. These instructions are applicable to every other disease. I may here remark that all the appropriate remedies are not mentioned, but only those that are generally useful in ordinary cases.