Youatt speaks of fits as particularly fatal to the dog, saying they "kill more than all the other diseases put together." The experience of this esteemed authority is in direct variance with my own—save from distemper. When the fits occur in that disease they are mostly fatal, being the wind-up of all the many evils which the malady in its most intense and malignant form can accumulate on one doomed life—I have not otherwise found them especially troublesome.

Fainting fits require little attention; if the dog be left quiet, it will in due time often recover without medicine.

Puerperal, or rather pupping fits, are treated of in their fitting place, and, if properly administered to, are by no means dangerous.

Fits par excellence are witnessed when a dog is taking a long walk with its master; the animal at first lingers behind, or gets a long distance before the proprietor, who notices the fact, but contents himself with whistling and walking forward. The dog does not obey the mandate; it is standing still as if stupefied; suddenly it emits a strange, loud, guttural sound, and then falls upon its side, continuing to cry, but more feebly and more naturally; its fÆces and urine may be discharged involuntarily; it will bite any one who, during the existence of the attack, incautiously attempts to lay hold of it; its limbs, at first stretched rigidly out, are ultimately, with returning volition, put into violent motion; the eye is protruded and foam covers the mouth. When the convulsion has subsided, the dog raises its head and stares about; after which it would, if left alone, start at its utmost pace, and run heaven only knows where. Should idle men and foolish boys behold a dog wildly run onward after having come out of a fit, and raise the cry of "mad dog," the fate of the poor animal is then sealed, as fear is devoid of discrimination or pity. Half the dogs killed as rabid are those in this condition, scampering under the impulse of returning sensation.

The first thing any person is to do when out with a dog which has a fit is to secure the animal, and to prevent its running away when the fit has passed. The second thing is stubbornly to close his ears to the crowd who are certain to surround him. No matter what advice may be given, he is to do nothing but get the animal home as quickly as possible. He is neither to lance the mouth, slit the ear, nor cut a piece of the tail off. He is on no account to administer a full dose of salt and water, a lump of tobacco, or to throw the animal into an adjacent pond; and of all things he is to allow no man more acquainted with dogs than the other spectators to bleed the creature. Any offer to rub the nose with syrup of buckthorn, however confidently he who makes the proposal may recommend that energetic mode of treatment, is to be unhesitatingly declined. The friendly desire of any one who may express his willingness to ram a secret and choice specific down the prostrate animal's throat, must be refused with firmness. The attendant must however take advantage of the time the dog is on the ground to pass a handkerchief round the neck or through the collar. This done, he must wait patiently till the dog gets upon its legs, when he must, amidst its struggles to be free, caress it and call it kindly by its name. That part of the business over, he must take the creature in his arms, and seeking the nearest cab-stand, carry the poor animal with all expedition homeward.

I have known a dog to have a succession of fits which lasted more than an hour; and yet this creature, by the treatment I shall presently describe, was the next day upon its legs, and to all appearance as well as ever.

The dog being brought home, if the fit continues, give nothing by the mouth; because the animal being insensible cannot swallow; and the breathing being laborious, anything administered is more likely to be drawn on to the lungs, and so to suffocate the creature, than to pass into the stomach, and thus (if it have any curative properties) effect a restoration. On this account the very best physic ever invented would be dangerous, and should be withheld. Enemas are the only things in these cases to be depended upon; and the best the author is at present acquainted with, is made of 1, 2, or 3 drachms of sulphuric Æther, and 2, 4, or 6 scruples of laudanum to 1½, 3, or 4½ ounces of the very coldest spring water that can be obtained. The above injection having been administered, the dog is left entirely by itself, and, as far as possible, in absolute silence for an hour; at the expiration of which time, in whatever state the animal may be in, another dose is given in the same manner as before.

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.