After puppies have passed the tenth week the mildest of the medicines advised, mixture No. i, can be laid aside in a cool place if it is to be kept - and No. 2 used thereafter, in the same way as during the earlier age.

For puppies of large and medium-sized varieties, the dose of No. 2 should be the same - one teaspoonful - up to the fourth month, when it can be increased one-half; that is, one teaspoonful and one-half can be given at one dose. From the fourth month this dose should be persisted in until the seventh month, when another increase of one-half a teaspoonful can be made. In other words, such puppies seven months old can take two teaspoonfuls of No. 2 at a single dose.

At the tenth month another increase of one-half a teaspoonful will be allowable with No. 2; and this made, the dose will be two and one-half teaspoonfuls.

Three months later, or at the thirteenth month, still another increase of one-half a teaspoonful can be made, and this will bring the dose up to three teaspoonfuls, which will be large enough for all mature dogs excepting the largest breeds, for which there should be one more such increase after the eighteenth month.

For puppies of small but not toy breeds the increase in dose of No. 2 should be one-half the original dose, - which was recommended to be one-half a teaspoonful, - and this increase can be made every three months. That is, at the fourth month their dose would be three-fourths of a tea-spoonful; at the seventh one teaspoonful; at the tenth one and one-fourth teaspoonfuls; and after the thirteenth one and one-half teaspoonfuls.

For toy puppies, as Yorkshires, the same methods should be employed in graduating the doses of No. 2. Starting with one-fourth of a teaspoonful as the original dose, this should be increased one-half every three months, or by about seven drops each time, estimating a teaspoon to hold between fifty and sixty drops of the mixture.

Let the reader bear in mind that in every instance where No. 2 is used, whether with large, small or toy varieties, and notwithstanding the increase in the dose, every time it is given it can be repeated in two hours if the first dose has not had a very decided effect, worms having been passed during the interval.

Mixture No. 2 very generally proves all-sufficient during the first six months, and not infrequently it can be wholly relied upon not only until maturity is reached, but for a long time afterward; and such being the case it should be persisted in. But in some instances along about the fourth or fifth month puppies become infested with worms which yield less readily to santonin than to some other vermifuge. And when such cases are encountered and No. 2 fails to expel the intruders powdered areca nut should be tried.

Areca nut is a product of an East India tree belonging to the family of palms, and its active constituent is areco-line, a colorless oily fluid. Arecoline hydrobromate, a salt of this alkaloid, resembles pelletierine, an alkaloid obtained from the root-bark of the pomegranate, and is a local irritant when applied to mucous membranes. In medium doses it produces vomiting and diarrhoea, while small doses slow the movements of the heart, render respiration difficult and have a paralyzing action on the brain.

Some who have discussed areca nut in public print have denounced it as unsafe and poisonous, while others have claimed it to be perfectly safe and incapable of doing any harm whatsoever. Both sides are at fault on this question. For puppies four or five months of age and upwards, and matured dogs, areca nut is one of the safest of vermifuges, but puppies much under this age do not always bear it well. In fact the writer in his experiments with it has killed puppies six and seven weeks old by only moderate doses. And in these fatal cases evidently the drug produced a profound impression on the heart, which caused its failure.

More than likely areca nut has often been given to quite young puppies without harmful results; still the danger line can scarcely have been left before the fourth month, and until then if it is used it should be in very small doses. But once this doubtful period has passed there will be no necessity for nice adjustment of doses, and excepting where the puppies to be treated are small breeds and toys, the health, strength and age are considerations of first importance in estimating them.

A distinction has been made between small breeds and toys, but this is vague, and before going further the lines must be drawn as closely as possible; but instead of giving a list of the varieties included in these classes it will be as well, besides favor convenience, to fix them by weight and include in the small breed class, dogs, of both sexes, that when full-grown weigh over ten pounds but not much over twenty pounds; and put all others weighing less than ten pounds when matured in the toy class. Of course this classification is far from exact, but still it will answer every purpose, moreover obviate the danger of error.

Powdered areca nut can safely be given in even teaspoon-ful doses to all varieties of puppies, from the largest down to small breeds, that have recently passed the fourth month, provided always the patients are fairly healthy and strong.

For puppies of small breeds of about this age the dose should be one-half a teaspoonful.

For toy puppies of like age the dose should not be over one-fourth of a teaspoonful.

Strangely, perhaps, in dealing with medicines it is the trifles over which people are most likely to stumble; and it being assumed that some may not know how to measure an even teaspoonful of powder the following advice is given : Take up a heaping teaspoonful, and with a small card or knife blade, or anything else that has a straight edge, sweep off all the powder above the edges of the spoon. This done, if the spoon holds powdered areca nut, the quantity left in it will weigh about sixteen grains, provided the spoon is of the old-fashioned sort, which is a little smaller than the make of to-day.