No animal is so subject to fits as the dog; and next to distemper, they destroy a greater number of dogs than any other disease. A puppy cutting or changing his teeth is very subject to fits; and the remedy is to lance the gums and give a dose of physic. Worms will produce them; the vermin must be destroyed by the medicines that will be hereafter pointed out. Dogs that are too. well fed, and have little regular exercise, will often suddenly fall into fits, if they are suffered to range at large and are more than usually excited. The remedy is regular exercise and occasional physic. At the beginning of the season many sporting dogs have fits; and when they once appear in a kennel almost every dog occasionally becomes affected by them.

For a dog that is subject to occasional fits there is no better medicine than the alterative balls (Recipe No. 3, p. 147). One should be given every morning, and a physic-ball Occasionally. These balls will be particularly useful if the dog is become too fat and pursy. If fits are produced by the convulsive cough of spasmodic asthma, an emetic is indicated In cases where the alterative balls fail, the tonic with sometimes succeed, and the nitrate of silver pills, recommended under chorea, will very much diminish the tendency to epilepsy. If the fit is obstinate at any time, it will be proper to bleed; the full quantity of blood, according to the size of the dog, should be taken, and anodynes given. The syrup of white poppies is the best, for it is almost the only preparation of opium that will remain on the stomach of the ,dog, and it may be administered in doses of from one to two drachms once or twice every day. If the fits are connected with costiveness, the following mixture may be given; it is the very best aperient, for general purposes, that can be administered to the dog.

Recipe (No. 29). Aperient Mixture

Take - Castor-oil, one ounce and a half; Syrup of. buckthorn, an ounce; Syrup of white poppies, half an ounce; Mix them together, and keep the dog in a cool place. The dose will vary from a teaspoonful to a tablespoonful, according to the size of the dog.

Locked-jaw or tetanus, is a very unfrequent disease in the dog, and I do not recollect a single case of recovery. The plan of treatment would be to bleed, and to give alternately, or at such times as to keep the bowels regularly open, the above aperient mixture and the syrup of white poppies.

Palsy is a frequent disease in the dog. It is too often the consequence of distemper, and then is seldom removed. The only hope of its removal depends on the good condition of the. dog, and on his retaining that condition. It is the same as in chorea; if the animal is in tolerable plight and spirits, there is a chance; if he is gradually wasting and sinking, no medical skill can arrest the progress of the disease. A seton, the keeping of the bowels in a rather relaxed state, the feeding of the dog, and the exhibition of tonic medicines, will be the principal means indicated; and to these may be added local applications.

Recipe (No. 30). Embrocation For Palsy And Rheumatism

Take - Spirit of turpentine; Hartshorn; and Camphorated spirit; one ounce each: Laudanum, half an ounce.

A little of this should be well rubbed in along the course of the spine, morning and night, being omitted for a few days if the part should become blistered or very sore.

In a great many cases, and particularly when palsy is the consequence of either constipation or rheumatism, or both, these measures will fail of success, and recourse must be had to another stimulus. The hair must be cut off from the beginning of the loins to the tail, and extending half way down the thigh, on either side. A piece of thick white leather must be cut precisely to fit the part from which the hair has been clipped, and, the materials for a charge,* having been melted and spread

Recipe (No. 31). A Charge For The Loins Or Legs

Take - Pitch, three pounds; Tar, one pound; Bees-wax, half a pound : Mix them together, and, when they are cool enough to be conveniently applied, spread the charge thickly over the loins, and scatter some flocks of short tow over it before it gets quite cold and firm on the leather, it must be applied over the loins while warm as accurately as possible. It will adhere closely to the skin, and almost without the possibility of getting it off, for three weeks or a month; and in that time its constant but mild stimulus will often recall the power of motion.

Rheumatism is also a frequent disease of the dog. It is entailed upon him by his unnatural petted state. Its most frequent immediate cause is constipation, degenerating by degrees into inflammation of the bowels. He cries when he gets up, cries when he walks, cries when he is lifted up, and frequently if he is merely looked at. The remedy is in most cases very simple and perfectly effectual. He must first be put into a warm bath of the temperature of 96 degrees, and kept in it ten minutes or a quarter of an hour. As soon as he comes from the bath the aperient medicine must be administered in the dose of a dessert or tablespoonful, according to his size, and repeated in half doses morning and night until he is relieved. This will usually be all that is necessary; but if complete relief is not afforded, recourse may be had to the rheumatic embrocation (Recipe No. 30, p. 199), which should be well rubbed on the part that seems to be principally affected, and should follow the apparent shiftings of the disease from limb to limb.