Tetanus is a disease manifested by continuous muscular spasm or rigid-ity. In the majority of cases this affection is caused by a wound or local injury of some kind. Exposure to cold and intestinal disturbances may induce it; in poisoning by nux vomica and strychnia the convulsions are tetanoid. The attack may be general or partial; when partial it is mostly confined to the neck and Jaws, and hence the affection is known as lockjaw. The Jaws are firmly shut by the rigid contraction of the muscles, and the mouth cannot be opened by any force it would be prudent to employ. The angles are drawn and the lips are bathed in frothy saliva. Often swallowing is impossible, owing to the throat being involved.

The muscles of the eyes and face are at times affected, giving rise to hideous distortions. When tetanus is general the body and limbs are stiff and immovable, the abdominal walls shrunken and rigid; respiratory movements of the chest are restrained. The muscular spasm is persistent; but it occasionally subsides a little and then comes on again in fits of greater violence.

Death may result from exhaustion, the nervous system being worn out by the violence of the spasm, or from suffocation, respiration being too long suspended during a violent convulsion. In very rare instances recovery takes place on the removal of the cause.

Treatment

To remove the cause is the first axiom in the treatment of all diseases. Other measures to be employed are to relax the spasms and sustain the strength of the animal. Perfect quiet is to be enforced and the administration of remedies should be effected as gently as possible. When difficulty in swallowing exists, nourishment and medicine should be given per rectum.

A wound if apparently the cause of the disease, should be reopened and a free discharge of pus promoted; cauterization will be necessary if it is ragged and ill-conditioned, and afterward poultices ought to be applied.

Among the many sedatives advised in the treatment of this disorder, chloral hydrate promises the best, and should be administered as is advised in strychnine poisoning. This drug may prove ineffectual; if so the tincture of the aconite root should be given by injection; three drops every two hours until relief is obtained. If the result from the use of aco. nite is discouraging, one eighth of a grain of morphine may be administered subcutaneously, and repeated every three or four hours.

Of the utmost importance is abundant nourishment and stimulation. A cup of milk or beef tea with a raw egg and a tablespoonful of brandy should be given by the rectum every three or four hours, unless it can be taken by the mouth. It is to be remembered that after the spinal cord becomes affected it acts independently, and its irritation does not subside on the removal of the exciting cause.