TETANUS. 1 37 



being forty-five, or normal, in other cases running up as 

 high as eighty. If excited, the pulse at once runs up. The 

 countenance bears a very anxious or distressed appearance. 

 The ears are usually pricked up, to a certain extent as a 

 result of sympathy with the rest of the muscular system. 

 The jaws, on examination, are found to be rigid and im- 

 movable, and as the breathing is often affected to a con- 

 siderable extent, the probabilities are that the diaphmgm 

 is involved. In most cases the appetite is retained, but 

 of course mastication is impossible, on account of spas;n of 

 the masseters, and usually there is great difficulty in deglu- 

 tition. The bowels are constipated, and the urine is scant 

 in quantity and high in colour. If the animal lies, or falls 

 down, all the symptoms enumerated become aggravated to 

 a terrible degree. The breathing becomes extremely diffi- 

 cult. The patient paws and struggles for hours at a time 

 in the most frantic manner, until tlie body becomes bathed, 

 first with a warm sweat, then with a cold sweat, followed in 

 a short time by death. In milder cases — and it occurs in 

 every possible degree of severity — the above symptoms are 

 present, but in a much milder form. The animal usually 

 retains the standing posture, which is the best, as lying down 

 aggravates the disease. 



Treatment — Almost every medicine in the pharmacopoeia 

 has been tried in the treatment of tetanus, certain reme- 

 dies meeting with great success in the hands of some 

 practitioners, and proving total failures in the hands of 

 others. It is, however, generally admitted by the members 

 of the profession that perfect cjuietude is the greatest 

 essential in the treatment of tetanus. Place the patient 

 in a dry, well ventilated loose box,, slightly darkened, and, 

 if possible, in an out-of-the-way situation — no other animal 

 should be near. Administer a full dose of cathartic 

 medicine, and follow with belladonna in a draught or bolus. 



