904 CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK AND COMPLETE STOCK DOCTOR. 



heart beats are strong and violent. The visible membranes are height- 

 ened in color, and either dangerous letharg}'' supervenes, or the animal 

 quickly recovers. Recovery is seldom so perfect, however, that the ani- 

 mal will not be subject to other attacks. 



What to do. — Dash cold water over the head and face, and when the 

 attack subsides, give good food and special care, with such remedial meas- 

 ures as may be indicated by the general state of the system, as, for ex- 

 ample, indigestion or constipation. 



IV. Paralysis. 



In those rare cases where jjaralysis exists as a distinct affection, death 

 usually occurs very soon. Its most common forms are those known as 

 paraplegia ixwA hemiplegia. The former is when the Avhole fore or hind 

 parts are affected ; the latter, when one side of the body only is so. 

 Paralysis is a loss of voluntary movement, and usually occurs as a symp-v 

 tom of other diseases, as softening of the brain, effusions of fluid 

 thereon, etc. 



What to do. — Give recipe No. 8, supplementing it with the following: 



No. 54. 2 Drachms nux vomica, 



>^ Ounce saltpetre, 

 Mix, 



Give as one dose ; repeat morning and night for a month. 

 V. Tetanus or Lockjaw. 



Tetanus is a general and continued spasm (or, more strictly, contrac- 

 tion) of the muscles of the body, both voluntary and involuntary. When 

 the muscles of the jaw are principally affected it is called trismus, or 

 in popular language, lockjaw, the term tetanus being more properly lim- 

 ited to tlie general form. 



Causes. — This is now known to be an infectious disease due to the intro- 

 duction through a wound of a microbe called the bacillus tetani. This 

 germ works best in a small M'ound, in which the air is excluded by closure 

 of the wound by swelling, or crusting over with a scab. Under these con- 

 ditions the germs grow, increase in numbers, and produce chemical poisons 

 called pto7nai7ies that are absorbed into the blood and poison the nervous 

 system, producing cramps of the muscular tissues of the body. The 

 germs exist naturally in the soil, especially in rich garden soil, consequently, 

 tetanus occurs most often through wounds in the feet, especially nail pricks. 

 The wounds may be so small as to preclude detection on account of the 

 hair covering the body and legs, or they may be in the alimentary tract 

 from punctures by sharp particles in the food, but for tetanus to develop 

 there must be a wound and the bacilli must gain entrance through it. It 



