As this is not a veterinary book, I shall only say a few words on distemper. Should your dog show signs of distemper, do not delay to put him in a warm place. Put him at once into a flannel coat with a flannel chest-preserver. You can make the latter by cutting two oval holes in a piece of flannel. Put the dog's forelegs through the holes and pin the flannel over his back with two stout safety pins.

Let him be as quiet as possible. Feed on milk, raw white of egg, and meat jelly and fish. If you cannot afford this diet, give him milk and white of egg only. Begin by giving a good teaspoonful of castor oil. Should there be diarrhoea afterwards, give occasionally a teaspoonful of Symes's preparation of lac bismuth, and let all food be quite cold. Let the dog be in the same temperature day and night. Should the diarrhoea turn to dysentery, or be black and streaked with blood, and very persistent, it may very often be stopped by equal parts (about a teaspoonful of each) of raw brandy and port wine, mixed with enough powdered arrowroot to make a paste, and given just as it is. I have seen miraculous results from this. In desperate cases where sickness makes it impossible to give anything by the mouth, an injection into the rectum of six drops of brandy, four to eight drops of laudanum, and a table-spoonful of thick boiled starch will sometimes bring a dog round from the very jaws of death. Sherley's 1 diarrhoea powders, also, are marvellous. For severe vomiting, give half a teaspoonful of essence of ginger, one teaspoonful of brandy, one teaspoonful of water. Mix, and give half for a dose.

Should the dog become very much collapsed, brandy should be liberally given, either burnt or raw. He must absolutely be kept out of all suspicion of a draught. All unpleasant discharges must be immediately removed. Should the distemper be of pneumonic form with high fever, give Homoeopathic tincture of aconite, three drops every three hours. I have found this invaluable. The other medicine that can be given as well is glycerine of carbolic solution, one part carbolic to ten of glycerine; fifteen drops every four hours.

1 Sherley & Co., 48 Borough High Street, London.

Should the gums become inflamed and the teeth black, they should be cleaned with a soft badger tooth brush, and the mouth swabbed out every two hours, day and night, with cotton wool dipped in a weak solution of chinosol.

Careful watching and nursing and perfect cleanliness are practically the only cure for distemper. A day's forgetfulness or a careless allowing of any great change of temperature will probably cause the dog's death. The room should be kept at about 65°, and plenty of fresh air should always be let in without lowering the temperature. This is best achieved by having a window constantly open at the top and a fire going day and night.

When he is convalescent do not give any exercise for about two months. Many valuable dogs are killed by taking them for a walk too soon. Their hearts are weak, and the exercise overtaxes them.

In administering liquids, remember that it is not necessary to force the dog's mouth open. Hold his head up and pull the loose corner of the mouth away from the teeth so that it makes a sort of funnel into which you can slowly pour the medicine or liquid food, which will be easily swallowed as it trickles down behind the back teeth. On giving a pill, open the dog's mouth and put the pill on the back of the tongue and push it right down the throat with the forefinger. It will not make him sick as it would a human being. The mouth should be instantly closed as the finger is withdrawn, and kept closed. You will know directly the pill has been swallowed, because then the tongue will be protruded to lick the nose.

' Treat all symptoms according to their relative importance. I know a man who, having brought a young puppy successfully through distemper so that it was convalescent, finding it had got some lice, rubbed it all over with a paraffin dressing, killing it within a few hours. The insects should have been picked off every day till the puppy was quite well, and then treated with insect powder for a while.

Dogs can have distemper more than once, but very seldom do. Nor do they often have it after four years old, though I know of one dog that did not have it till the age of ten years. Ordinary distemper is, however, no safeguard whatever against Japanese distemper. I have heard of dogs having two attacks of distemper in twelve months. One died, but the others recovered. I do not believe in anti-distemper inoculation and cannot advise it for really valuable dogs. Also, in spite of all that authorities say to the contrary, a dog may break out with Japanese distemper twelve hours after being exposed to infection.

After an outbreak of distemper in a kennel, the place is not safe for new dogs under a month, and after thorough disinfection.

Distemper in Toy Spaniels is usually followed by a desperate attack of suppurating opthalmia, which, if unchecked, often destroys the eyesight permanently. The eyeball bursts and then shrivels up like a dried apple, or at the best leaves a grey, jelly-like eye, which' is sickening to look at. In cases of this kind use Sher-ley's eye-cure ointment three or four times a day from the very first symptoms, and keep the dog in the dark. When the eyes are very much inflamed, use a lotion of alum, twelve grains, and water, six ounces, mixed together. Apply with antiseptic cotton wool, using the wool as a sponge, and see that it really gets under the lids. The paws must be tied up in bags, or there is not the slightest chance of saving the eyes, the irritation being so excessive that the dog will madly tear at them Ophthalmia appears to be extremely contagious.

Every kennel of valuable dogs should be provided with a room (a portable hut on wheels will do) where newcomers can be isolated for three weeks on arrival. There should also be a room in which visiting bitches can be kept. House pets, such as are often sent to good dogs, cannot be put into kennels. However comfortable their quarters may be, they fret if left with strange companions. It is very dangerous, moreover, to introduce among healthy stock bitches which may come from unsanitary surroundings.

I must earnestly warn my readers who keep Toy Spaniels never to be tempted into keeping Japanese Spaniels as well. The latter have a peculiar kind of distemper - not always called distemper by vets - but variously treated as pneumonia, gastritis, influenza, or Stuttgart disease. Whether or not it is, technically speaking, distemper, is of no consequence to Toy dog owners. It is both infectious and contagious, and far more deadly than ordinary distemper, being fatal in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, no treatment being of the slightest avail It is unknown among Toy

Spaniels except when contracted from a Japanese, and it ends in virulent mortification of mouth and lungs or intestines, so that the dog is in a state of putrefaction before its death. So terrible is this frightful scourge which annually sweeps and devastates Japanese kennels, that I would strongly advise all other Toy dog clubs to unite in getting the Japanese restricted to a separate room in all shows at which any other small breed is exhibited. For it is chiefly through the shows that the disease is propagated. This measure should be taken in the interest of all our Toy breeds, lest they, also, become subject to the same amazing mortality and die out altogether. Our own distemper is bad enough, but the other is as fatal as the "Black Death," which, indeed, it closely resembles. A curious feature of this disease is that a dog with the pneumonic form of it may pass it on to another dog in the typhoid form.

In conclusion, I cannot too often impress upon my readers the necessity for perfect cleanliness in everything connected with the dogs. Constantly wash all sponges and brushes and combs with the Army and Navy sponge and brush powder to be procured from the Army and Navy Stores, Victoria St., S. W.

Never go near or handle other people's dogs without changing your clothes and shoes before returning amongst your own. You will have reason to congratulate yourself if you adopt these simple but tiresome precautions, as you may often hear afterwards that the dogs which looked well and free from illness were sickening for distemper, and you will be spared the regret of having imported the disease into your own establishment

If you get a letter from a person who has disease in his kennels, burn it immediately, as it may convey germs to your dogs.

Avoid trailing skirts in your kennels. They also pick up and convey germs. I consider that fleas and flies are great carriers of distemper.

If you have no separate buildings in which you can isolate sick dogs, and are obliged to attend all your dogs yourself, something may be done by hanging a sheet soaked in antiseptic over the door of the room in which you keep the patients and doing all your nursing in a waterproof overall and galoshes. Finally, if you take off these on leaving the room and wash your hands in strong disinfectant, there is much less chance of infection.