Dogs and Consumption

1895

One of the questions discussed before the Paris Academy of Medicine was, Should consumptives and other persons be encouraged to keep dogs? Dr. Megnin, formerly a veterinary surgeon in the army, sent in a paper to show they should not. The dog is just as liable as his master to be infected by tuberculosis and to spread it. Dr. Megnin had under his care many canine consumptives. They were of the lapdog species, and it is said caught the malady from their masters or mistresses.

Dogs, said Dr. Megnin, were liable to many sorts of septicaemia and to scurvy. The dog, so teachable, was not given any education of the palate, but was allowed to eat infectious garbage and nameless filth. This alone would account for its liability to rabies. The dog, by intelligent care in its breeding, education and hygiene, might be made the paragon of four footed beings and the worthy friend and auxiliary of intelligent human beings. Dogs reflected the moral qualities and the vices of their masters. Wherever manners were mild dogs ceased to be ferocious. In conclusion, the author of the paper proposed the foundation of a chair for canine anatomy and diseases. — London News.