The Olneyville tribune. (Providence, R.I.) 1893-189?, 1894-06-30

When Sick o. Injured Fsreeieus
Beasts Lose Couraos.

in their way, and scenes witnessed
there frequently quicken our sym
pathy with the brute world as life in
the wards Of human hospital
! brings us into closer touch with for
lorn humanity, says a writer in Our
Animal Friends. When man is i'll
we get a different glimpse of his ma
ture, and the same is true of suffer-
ing animals. We can study them TO
better advantage than when they are
strong. frisky, and OVERT lowing with
spirits.
Medicine and surgery have Of late
years alleviated much pain among
animals, and veterinary science is
broadening into new avenues every
year. Formerly it was considered
impossible TO heal the fractured leg
of an animal, or to administer medi-
cine to it internally when suffering
from disease. Now cats, dogs, horses,
wild animals, and, in fact, all crea-
lures that are useful and pleasurable
to man, have surgeons and ply
sicians who study their ailments as
carefully as if they were human pa
tients. Generally speaking an ami
NAL loses heart when it gets sick or
breaks bone, and one of the great
est things against which these animal
physicians have to contend is the de-
pressing influence of melancholy on
their patients. Many thousands of
dollars are lost annually by ostrich
farmers because the birds break their
legs and pine away and die. Nothing
seems to revive their courage, and
they actually grow weak and sick
from encouragement. A cat or dog
shows this same inclination to moan
and pine away when injured severely,
but in muck lesser degree than the
ostrich.
Sickness breaks the spirit Of the
proudest and most ferocious animal.
In the wards of the hospital the sick
lion or tiger will drop its head be-
tween its paws and scarcely notices
intruders. 1t is quite safe then for
almost any one to enter the cage, and
sometimes it becomes necessary to
prod the creatures in order to rouse
them. To enrage them is frequently
the best tonic that can be admins
tered. They all naturally object to
taking medicine, and many schemes
are often resorted to before it can be
introduced into their stomachs.
Tempting morsels of food, with the
medicine deftly concealed inside, are
given to them, and after they have
swallowed it there is look of disgust
in their eyes that makes one smile.
But when they get so sick as to
refuse all food, medicine has to be lit
orally forced upon them. Their
mouths are pried open, and held there
until the medicine is poured down
their ffroats.
For the larger animals such as We
find in our menageries, regular strait
jackets and slings of great power
are arranged, by means Of which the
heads of the creatures, when sick,
are thrown back, and their mouths
are opened until the medicine is ad-
minstered. When a lion breaks his
leg, he has not sufficient intelligence
to let the surgeons set it, and after it
is set he will not keep quiet enough
to let it heal. At such times the
animals are bound in powerful slings
so that they have to remain in an
easy position and the injured leg is
kept quiet until the broken bone has
knit together again. Elephants,
bears, tigers, and other wild animals
Of our menageries, are treated in the
same way.
Monkeys will frequently tear the
bandages from wound, and when
sick they have to be confined in some
gentle way. They seem to be unable
to comprehend the meaning OF the
white bandages bound around them;
but little force and frmness often
quiets them, and they gradually begin
to understand that surgeons are their
friends. The affection which these
suffering creatures show toward their
benefactors when they begin to inn
prove is sufficient reward for all the
trouble.
There is nothing more touching
than the afrectionate greeting which
well-bred dog will give to surgeon
who comes daily to inspect his inju-
res. He will lick his kind friends
hands and face and grow so wild with
Joy that the surgeon must use strong
words to make him keep quiet. Ever
small, sick monkeys will stop theiI
moaning and give squeaks of plea.
sure as their medical friends enter
the cage. They will sometimes point
in a most laughable way to their
stomachs, as il to tell the doctor of
the terrible feelings that they have
down there. Sometimes il seems as
il they were appealinu SNr more of
the medicine which relieved them
before. Cats show their affection by
purring loudly. When sick these
domestic pets become very affection
ate and love to curl up in the lap OF
their owner, moaning or whining
piteously, as il asking for human re-
lief. 1t is well known that dogs,
when i'll, will hurry to their masters
and follow them closely, as il loath
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