There is no limitation to the quantity which may be administered; the only sign the attendant accepts that the creature has received sufficient is the sight of it coiled up as though it were composing itself to sleep, when he gives one more injection, and leaves the dog to recover at leisure, but in perfect stillness.
So valuable is this medicine in cases of fits that I have known it to cut them short as with a knife; literally to let the first part of the fit be heard, but to check the attack before the last and worst portion could put in an appearance.
Armed with this medicine I fearlessly face the disorder, which other veterinary surgeons dread; and, whether it be my good luck or no, cannot be decided, but I have not, under its operation, lost a single case.
Fits in my opinion are, in the great majority of cases, to be traced to the quantity or quality of the food consumed. In proof of this, dogs have had fits whenever flesh has been given; which ceased on this kind of diet being withheld, and medicine calculated to restore the tone of the stomach being ordered. In every case of fits, when the attack is over, I attend to the stomach; at the same time, ordering that the dog is to go short distances, and never to leave the house without a chain and collar.
The object of this last injunction is to prevent the animal running about, and thus heating itself, or causing a flow of blood to the brain.
It is to be lamented that the crowd of people prevents an injection being administered out of doors in London: but the same objection does not apply to the country; and as the effects of the æther are more marked in proportion as it is quickly exhibited, persons in the country, when, during the hot months of summer, they take dogs for an airing, should be provided with the materials necessary to render fits, if not harmless, at all events less fatal.
NERVOUS SYSTEM.—RABIES.
The dog is naturally the most nervous of all the dumb tribe. His intense affection, his ever-watchful jealousy, his method of attack, the blindness of his rage, and his insensibility to consequences, all bespeak a creature whose nervous system is developed in the highest possible degree. I myself once had a little cur, who, as I sat reading, would enter the apartment, jump upon my knee, uttering a low whimper all the time, creep along my waistcoat, rub his little body against my head and face, lick the hand lifted up to return his caresses, and then scamper off, and perhaps not come near me again the whole of that afternoon. What was this but an affectionate impulse seeking a nervous development? The way to manage an animal of this description is, to respect his evident excitability. The instant a dog appears to be getting excited, there should be a sign given, commanding a stop to be put to all further proceedings. If the respect of the animal be habitual, the person who mildly enforces it may enter a room, where the same dog is in a rabid state, and come forth unscathed.
