Distemper Cure?

Just as there is no cure for epilepsy, there is none for distemper, scourge of dogs. Almost all have it at some time, but those that have it badly, even if they do not die, are generally done for. Blinded, paralyzed or twisted, they can only find a spot in a stable-yard and wait for death. Hard is the lot of yellow alley-dogs, which often have no place to go; they must drag themselves about from corner to corner, pushing a pair of useless front legs or perhaps pulling their bodies behind them like billets because their hind-legs are shriveled to sad bony wisps. Such dogs throw a ghastly shadow as they limp about in the sunlight.

Many famous veterinarians have done what they could. In London two years ago, the Fields Distemper Council started an elaborate experimental farm (TIME, Sept 24, 1923). Last week Dr. J. W. Patton, in the Ellin Prince Speyer Hospital, Manhattan, let it be known that he is using ultra-violet-ray treatment. He installed a quartz lamp and put blue goggles on the dogs to protect their eyes from the strong light. But he does not believe he has found a cure.