OBSERVATIONS on THE TETANUS. 231 
running in their feet, and other accidents. It is attended 
with a rigidity of the mufcles of the neck, a ftiffnefs in 
the limbs, and fuch a contraction of the jaw as to pre- 
vent their eating. It is generally fatal. In two cafes 
I had the pleafure of feeing the difeafe perfe@tly cured 
by applying a potential cauftic to the neck under the 
mane, by large dofes of oil of amber, and by plunging 
one of them into the river, and throwing buckets of cold 
water upon the other. 
How far the reafonings contained in this paper may 
apply to the hydrophobia, I cannot determine, having had 
no opportunity of feeing the difeafe fince I adopted thefe 
principles; but from the {pafmodic nature of the diforder, 
from the feafon of the year in which it generally occurs, 
and above all, from the cafe related by Dr. Fothergill, of a 
young woman having efcaped the effects of the bite of a 
mad cat by means of the wound being kept open, (which 
from its feverity was probably connected with fome degrees 
of inflammation) is it not probable that the fame remedies, 
which have been ufed with fuccefs in the Tetanus, may be 
ufed with advantage in the hydrophobia?—In a difeafe io 
deplorable, and hitherto fo unfuccefsfully treated, even a 
conjecture may lead to ufeful experiments and enquiries. 
N° XXIX. 
To Mis Excellency BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, EL/g. L.L. D. 
Prefident of the State of Pennfylvania, and of the Ame- 
rican P hilofophical Society, &°c. 
SIR, Philadelphia, January 12, 1786. 
gre ea HE fubje& of fmoky chimneys, of which 
I had the honor of converfing with you at 
your own houfe laft evening, is of fo much importance to 
Gg2 every 
