796 Local SpasQis in the Muscles of the Head, Body and Extremities. 



tioii of the epigastrium and a bulging* out of the intercostal 

 spaces occurs svnchronoush" with the convulsive movements. 



Treatment. The increased irritability of the diaphragmatic 

 nerves and the spasms themselves may disappear without any 

 treatment. Only Perrin noticed a fatal result in the horse. As 

 a rule it is sufficient to keep the animal ciuiet, yet one can hasten 

 improvement by subcutaneous injections of morphine (0.30-0.50 

 gm. for horses, 0.01-0.02 gm. for dogs), because the spasms cease 

 entirely in half to one hour after a single injection. Any digestive 

 disturbances that are present must of course be remedied 

 (change of food, internally neutral salts). 



Literature. Dupas, Eev. vet., 1906, 548.— Klingberg, Z. f. Vk., 1906, 23.— 

 Perrin, Bull. spec, des vgt., 1906, 49.— Thomassen, Ann., 1892, 17 (Lit.). — Ziiru, D. 

 t. W., 1905, 25. 



9. Local Spasms in the Muscles of the Head, Body and 

 Extremities. 



(Tic.) 



Clonic spasms or twitchings occurring in the muscular tis- 

 sue of different parts of the body are characterized by the fact 

 that they are never associated with disturbances of conscious- 

 ness, they are limited to single muscles or to the territory sup- 

 plied by single nerves, and that a certain uniformity and regu- 

 larity may be observed in this case, or even when several parts 

 of the body are affected. These peculiarities distinguish this 

 form of spasm on the one hand from epilepsy and eclampsia, 

 and on the other from chorea, for which it is frequently mis- 

 taken. Most cases recorded in literature under the name of 

 chorea belong to this category. 



Etiology. In certain cases which need here not be consid- 

 ered in detail, the cause of the spasms lies in organic disease of 

 the central or perhaps exceptionally the peripheral nervous sys- 

 tem. As neuroses the convulsions may be occasioned by poisons 

 which are not known exactly. This must 1)e considered when 

 the spasms are due to intestinal inflaimnation, catarrh, diges- 

 tive disturbances or to other diseases, as is the case not infre- 

 quently (in one of the authors' cases purulent pleurisy). In 

 many cases, however, they are perhaps due to reflex causes. 

 Thus Lienaux noticed extensive spasms after opening an ab- 

 scess on the neck of a dog, but they ceased after packing of the 

 abscess cavity. A similar occurrence was noted by Krammel 

 after docking the tail of a horse. Gunning saw the occurrence 

 of such spasms in a horse after castration (after separation of 

 the spermatic cord recovery resulted), whilst in Bartolucci's 

 case spasms limited to one-half of the body were occasioned by 



