, 1888-04-15
THE VETERINARY HOSPITAL.

A rather short man, with a red, Grant
beard and a sharp but kindly eye, walked
down the aisle of the Chicago Veterinary
hospital the other day, glancing right and
left at the various wards. AS he went
horses and dogs, the patients of the hos
pital, turned their head to look after
him and whinnied or whined when he
passed. He was DIR. A. II. Baker, who
holds the chair of theory and practice of
veterinary medicine and surgery at the
hospital, and is one of the most success
full and distinguished practitioners in his
line in the west.
'FWhat sort of dogs make the best pa
tients2" was asked by an inquisitive re-
porter.
The higher bred the dog is the better
it stands the pain, as a general thing"
replied the doctor. GAS for breed itself,
/ do not know that there is any choice in
bravery under these circumstances l
have seen a wee mite of a black and tan
exhibit as much foTtitude as a mastiff."
"'What are the dogs oftenest treated
for2n
"Oh, broken legs mostly, but dogs have
plenty of diseases in common with man.
They have pneumonia, kidney troubles,
tumors and cancers, and the goitre and
indigestion, decay of the teeth, and throat
affections of all sorts. / cannot help
referring to their intelligence while
under treatment. 1t is a constant
source of wonder to me. You can give
them orders for the cure of themselves
which they will obey better than a human
patient will do. And the affection they
develop for the doctor is truly remarka-
BILE. 1 know dogs that have recognized
me years after 1 treated them, and will
come barking about me with every sign
of recognition and good will.
1--WE often nave hunting dogs with
sore tails brought to us. The constant
switching of the tail against grass and
bushes causes tumors and other sores TO
form on the end of it. These are ex-
tremely painful to the dog, as we fire.
quently have to cut off three or four
inches of the bone. Tracheotomy has to
be frequently performed in treating dogs,
and, owing to improper Indigestion, dogs
teeth frequently get out of order. The
bites received on the legs during fights
purposely or otherwise engaged in by
dogs often cause tumors that are apt to
grow to dangerous proportions, and re-
quire delicate treatment to remove or
cure.
Broken legs are very common with
dogs. The legs of these little black and
tans are like pipestems. One little fell
low jumped on his mistress back when
she was STOPPING down and fell off when
she arose. He broke both his forelegs.
1 did them up in starch bandages, and
the mite of a dog sat On his launches
and favored his broken limbs as intelli-
gently as if he had as much reason as a
man. When he became tired he would
whine and they would lay him on his
side. He was running around again in
three weeks.
"The bites which dogs SO often get
from one another we generally sew up
with a few stitches. A spaniel 1 at
tended on the West side had the pneu-
monia badly for three weeks. He was
nursed Just as a human would AVE been,
dressed in a warm flannel shirt, poulticed
and fed quinine and febrifuges. In
treating dogs for diseases common also to
man, the patients receive equal doses Of
about the same medicine. The attach
ment of people for their dogs is touching.
1 have seen strong men break down and
cry like babies at the death of a favorite
dog, and women cry nearly always under
the same circumstances. One lady had
Mysteries when 1 told her the dog was no
more.
Zone splendid Newfoundland dog that
watched III q North side grocery storb
was found one Sunday morning suffering
terribly from inflammation arising from
a terrible wound made by a crowbar.
Thieves had broken open the store, but
the dog had driven them off and not q
thing was missing. The owl
was found near the dog. He was
brought to us, but although he
was treated Immediately, the pro-
- r. A. INSTRUMENTATION no,,II not
be stopped and he died. 1 nave his
skeleton. His pelt measured six feet
from the tip of his nose to the root of his
tail. He was the largest Newfoundland
dog 1 ever saw. 1 treated a case of
goiter in a puppy on the North side. The
disease caused the dog to have convul-
sions, and, as is often the case, he was
thought to be mad. The owner bought
some chloroform and was about to kill
him when the pup, which was feeling
somewhat better just then, looked up
into his masters face with such a comical
expression that he postponed the execu-
ton. l came, gave the dog, some inter
nal medicine and a liniment, and in three
weeks the goiter disappeared, and to-day
he is healthier than ever before in his
life."
care not many dogs killed for being
mad which are not mad at all?"
THAT is often the case. In all my
experience l have never seen but about
twenty cases of genuine hydrophobia
among dogs and about five among horses.
Dogs are quite subject to commissions and
fits, and people Immediately jump at the
conclusions that the animals are mad and
have them killed, whereas some simple
remedy would cure them in a few hours.
There has recently been sent to mt a
specimen of a worm that is killing the
dogs in Florida, and 7 presume that 1 I'M
the only person in this country who pos
sesses a sample of it. 1t is very common
in China and India, where dogs exist in
such numbers, and the disease often at
tacks the human race. Owing to its
peculiar nature it is invariably fatal, and
1 regard it only a question of time before
we shall hear of people dying of
it. The worm, which is called the
filaria immitis, or cruel thread worm,'
is about the thickness of a fine linen
thread, and from ten to twelve inches in
1anotb whom fnll proyvn The perm ia