Hysteria is not the only ailment that affects the brains of dogs, but it is more talked about than any other owing to its prevalence, the distressing symptoms that accompany it, and the mystery concerning its cause. Although nearly fifteen years have passed since it spread through America and then appeared in this country, we know remarkably little about it, beyond the treatment of cases with sedatives and keeping an affected animal quiet. In an article some months ago I announced that the Field newspaper was contemplating inaugurating an enquiry into the ailment, presumably on the lines followed by its arch into methods of preventing distemper.
An investigation of this kind, if it is to be conducted in a thorough manner, will cost money, and before proceeding to appeal for a large amount the Field proposes, with the sums that have already been subscribed, to make a preliminary exploration of the possibilities of suc cess. That is good news. The scientists who are invited to undertake the work will be confronted with several interesting problems. As an ordinary layman I am puzzled to acthe Atlantic. It is agreed, I think, that America was the first to be affected. How did it reach Great Britain?
The natural presumption is that there is some common cause. What is it, and why should dogs, fed in post-war years very much as they were before, suddenly fall with it? Perhaps we understand more about the constituents of food stuffs than we did twenty-five years ago, but basically there has been little change in the manner of treatment, I am writing on the assumption that has become general that digestive di orders are responsible. Possibly research may show that they have nothing to do with hysteria. That remains to be seen.
We do know, however, that various diseases of the brain that have been common for generations have no connection with the manner in which dogs are fed. Epilepsy is one of them. The inexperienced might easily confuse this with hysteria, as we have frothing at the mouth, convulsions, running in circles, and so on. What are called epileptiform
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.