For instance, in the human race the disturbing passions will cause certain secretions to become corrupted and even acquire poisonous properties. Beyond doubt the same causes are nearly if not quite as active in the lower orders, for the bite of an animal goaded to desperation heals less rapidly and is attended with greater inflammation than one administered when the system is uninfluenced by excited passion. And if great mental disturbances in the human mother diminish or vitiate the secretion of milk and it becomes hurtful and even deadly to the nursing child, assuredly it is reasonable to assume that the same effects would follow like cause in the canine mother. Another fact to be considered is, that seldom are valuable bitches in the last few days of pregnancy permitted to follow their own instinctive promptings, but very generally they are kept under rigid restraint, lest accidents occur; and if they have been allowed constantly liberty, as they ought, they must be more or less nervous, fretful, and discontented.

All of which goes to show that the influences which may affect the milk of the dam are many and varied, and each and every one must be considered and given due weight in discussing this important question.

Experience acquired since giving expression to the foregoing has led the writer to believe that where a large number of dogs are kept together, are much restrained, and the preparation of the food and the feeding and watering are left to hired help, - in which instance such duties are scarcely likely to be attended to with absolute faithfulness, - it is a wise procedure to use the breast-pump and draw out all the milk on the day previous to whelping. If, on the other hand, the expectant mother is alone or has but one or two mates, has been given ample exercise, fed from her master's table and otherwise treated with the consideration she deserves, to empty the breasts as advised is rarely necessary. Also, that the operation can do no harm if it fails to do good.

An abnormal condition of the milk that is responsible for not a few deaths among puppies is excessive acidity. Now, the milk of a healthy dam is either slightly alkaline or else neutral, and a slight acidity is not appreciable to the eye, but when this reaction is a decided one the milk is thicker than usual or distinctly curdled, and gives rise to colic and diarrhoea, which are speedily fatal unless prompt relief is afforded.

This peculiar trouble is often caused by fermented foods, as meal puddings that have been too long kept. There are some mothers, also, that exhibit it no matter how they are fed, and in them it is attributed to some functional derangement, possibly in the organs concerned in digestion. And it may be suspected if the puppies, healthy at birth, begin on the third or fourth day to moan and cry, grow cold and clammy to the touch, and at the same time emit a sour and otherwise offensive odor.

As soon as these signs are noted a piece of blue litmus paper should be obtained of the nearest druggist for the purpose of testing the milk, and if the same turns it red it is very acid, and the puppies must be taken from the mother and vigorous treatment applied to her at once.

By means of a breast-pump all the milk must be drawn out, and this operation repeated three or four times during the next twelve hours. As soon as possible, also, the mother must be given an antacid in the form of bicarbonate of soda, of which the dose for other than toys is one-half a teaspoonful, to be dissolved in about one-half a teacupful of water and poured down the patient's throat, while for toys it should be decreased one-half. And this medicine, in like doses, should be repeated at intervals of three hours during the first day, once in six hours the next, and three times daily throughout the remainder of the week.

During the period in which the breast-pump is in use the puppies must not be allowed to nurse the mother, but kept near a fire, in a basket lined with well-warmed flannel or blanket, and treated as follows: -

Put four tablespoonfuls of lime-water into a cup and add to the same sixteen drops of laudanum. Of this mixture give each puppy one teaspoonful. Half an hour later, to every one that is still crying and moaning give another teaspoonful of the mixture. After that, until they become quiet, give one teaspoonful every hour to all that moan or cry.

No effort should be made to nourish them until the fourth or fifth hour after they have been taken from their mother. Then they should be given a mixture of cow's milk and lime-water in equal parts, to which should be added boiling water in quantity merely sufficient to make the whole "blood warm." And of this four or five tea-spoonfuls should be administered every two hours, by means of a spoon.

On the day following that on which the acidity was detected, the milk in the mean time having all been drawn out three or four times as advised, the puppies may be returned to their mother and permitted to nurse, provided always her milk is no longer acid. If, however, it is still sufficiently so to turn litmus paper red the puppies must be kept from her and nourished artificially until the soda has rendered the milk secretion alkaline or neutral; in which condition it will no longer affect the color of this paper.

If the bicarbonate of soda is faithfully given the mother for a week there will be but little danger of her milk again becoming excessively acid; but still it will be best to continue to use means of prevention, and lime-water is the antacid to be relied upon after the first week. This should be added to milk in the proportion of one teacupful to every pint; and of the mixture she should be encouraged to drink freely several times daily. But in event she refuses it, it may be accepted that she tastes the lime-water and the proportion of the same must be lessened.

The means of anticipating excessive acidity has been advised in chapter "Before Whelping," and that - the precipitated phosphate of lime - should be given daily to every expectant mother that has ever experienced this accident.