72 DADD'S VETERINARY MEDICINE AND SURGERY. 



they don't do harm. You ask, then, what is the use of attending 

 medical lectures ? I '11 tell you. We come here (to the college of 

 France) to study Nature, to learn to reinforce and aid Nature, not 

 to spin fine theories. I would not give a centime for all the theories 

 in the world. Give me stubborn facts.' 



" Such was the bold and candid language of one of the greatest 

 anatomists and physicians of the age but a short time before his 

 death. Our medical men do not take quite such strong ground as 

 Majendie took, but they show their lack of faith in what was 

 formerly called ( vigorous treatment ' by sparing medication, and a 

 still more limited use of the lancet and other mechanical means 

 of depletion. Nature, after having been professionally misused for 

 centuries, seems at last to have found a friend and ally in the 

 medical faculty." 



We now come more directly to the treatment of tetanus; and, in 

 view of showing what unwarrantable outrages are perpetrated en 

 the poor uncomplaining brute, the following article is here intro- 

 duced : 



" Wounds of tendinous and ligamentous parts are the common 

 cause of tetanus, more generally known as locked-jaw, so-calkd 

 because the first symptoms of the violent spasmodic affection ave 

 detected in the jaw. Castration, nicking, docking, lacerations, and 

 punctures, particularly of the feet, are the kinds of wounds that 

 end in tetanus. Even slight contusions will bring it on. It is a 

 dreadful and, too often, a fatal disease. The animal is nearly 

 paralyzed by the constant spasm of all the voluntary muscles. 

 The symptoms are unmistakable: First, a certain stiffness about 

 the throat, and difficulty in swallowing or turning the head. This 

 gradually extends to the jaws, contracting the mouth. The home 

 possesses a desire to masticate, but, in the earliest stage of the dis- 

 ease, the work is imperfectly performed, with great pain. The eyes 

 become vivid in appearance, and present a retroverted aspect. The 

 disease continues to spread, and when it affects the voluntary mus- 

 cles of the trunk and the extremities, the animal becomes a living 

 picture of agony and distress. The cocked yet quivering tail, the 

 distended legs, the contraction of the abdominal muscles, the trem- 

 ulous and irregular pulse, the hurried respiration, the sweat-marks ; 

 and the fixed and sunken eyes, all speak unmistakably of the vio- 

 lent and painful nature of the disease. The animal sometimes 

 suffers for six 01 seven days, when it falls, completely exhaus^d 



