TETANUS — LOCKED JAW. 55 



haws issuing over them like a shield whenever the head is raised 

 or moved: on other occasions, when no agitation prevails, the eyes 

 appear dull, and even sunk in their orbits ; the ears are erect and 

 rigid ; the muzzle protruded ; the nostrils dilated. Should medi- 

 cine have not been given during the onset of the disorder, the pro- 

 bability is, that the jaws by this time are so far locked as to render 

 the administration of either ball or drench an affair of extreme dif- 

 ficulty, if not total impossibility*. When the animal moves — for 

 he is still able to walk — the veterinarian of experience observes 

 tetanus in his gait as far off as he can observe him : locomotion 

 evidently puts him to a good deal of pain; his fore limbs reluc- 

 tantly and stiffly take short steps in advance, while his unbending 

 hind legs straddlingly drag after them; and when he turns, so rigid 

 has his body become, that from head to tail the spine remains in- 

 flexibly straightened, like that of a horse said to be ''ricked"t in the 

 back or loins. The tail is erected, and commonly has a continual 

 tremulous motion. The coat stands on end, and the skin feels 

 tight and harsh. The belly is tense, and towards the flanks is 

 much drawn up, giving them a hollow appearance. The respira- 

 tion and pulse often remain, for some time after the commencement 

 of the attack, undisturbed ; in other cases, the breathing soon grows 

 quick and irregular, and there is present a troublesome cough; 

 and now and then, at an advanced state of the disorder, such is the 

 oppression in the breath, and consequent palpitation at the flanks, 

 that the veterinarian finds it necessary to perform the operation of 

 tracheotomy; and this operation generally affords the desired relief: 

 the panting and distress being occasioned by spasms seizing the 

 muscles of the glottis, which, but for such timely relief, might 

 induce even suffocation and death. Under these circurtistances the 



* In The Veterinarian for 1837 is an account of a case of locked jaw 

 treated by a farrier, who introduced an iron crow-bar between the tushes and 

 grinders through the mouth, from one side to the other, with a view of en- 

 abling a couple of men, placed on each side of the horse, by means of it, to 

 force open the mouth. Their efforts proved unavailing. This relic of the 

 age of veterinary barbarism will tend to shew the amount of power exerted 

 by the spasmed muscles on the closed jaws. 



t This looks like a corruption of ricJtets or rickety. 



