412 TETANUS, 



cases wliicli terminate fatally — with symptoms of gradually 

 increasing severity. In tliose where a favourable termination 

 is reached, the muscular spasms may appear for some time 

 perfectly stationary, and at last slowly decline, perfect func- 

 tional tone being only reached after a lengthened period. 



Treatment. — Very many of the cases of tetanus which we are 

 called upon to treat are, from the outset, evidently hopeless ; 

 these rarely survive long enough to give any therapeutic 

 agent an opportunity of acting upon the system. 



In all cases where remedial measures are intended to be 

 carried out, the first matter demanding attention is the secur- 

 ing of a box, dry and well ventilated. It does not, in this 

 disease, require to be well lighted — indeed, it is preferable, if 

 not absolutely needful, that it should be dark — but above all, it 

 ought to be removed as much as possible from noise or disturb- 

 ance of every sort. 



Having carefully placed the animal in this quiet and rather 

 dark box, we ought to impress upon the attendant] that all 

 merely meddlesome visiting or interference with the sick 

 animal, that all rough handling, noisy demonstrations, or any- 

 thing which excites or disturbs the patient, tend most effectu- 

 ally to retard its recovery. 



Unless the bowels are already in a lax condition, it is advis- 

 able in every case to exhibit, if possible, a moderate dose of 

 purging medicine. 



If the bowels can be once moved, they may generally be kept 

 in a natural or soluble condition by sloppy mashes, to which 

 have been added treacle or linseed oil ; these the animal will 

 generally take without any trouble, unless the case is very 

 acute. While, even when no cathartic medicine could be 

 administered, I have seen the wished-for results obtained by 

 this system of dieting. 



If the case is one of traumatic tetanus, the wound ought to 

 be carefully examined, and any portions of foreign matter or 

 animal tissue which, from necrosis, is acting as an irritant re- 

 moved, and a good poultice, medicated with some such mate- 

 rial as opium, belladonna, or cannabis indicus, applied over 

 the wound or injured part. In cases of tetanus from docking, 

 it has been proposed to re-amputate ; practice, however, does 

 not favour this procedure — rather the reverse. In addition to 



