io8 



encouragement to make the attempt. It is very different, 

 however, in the human species. When a person is bitten by 

 a rabid animal, and the poison is allowed to be carried 

 through the system, no medicine will do any good ; there- 

 fore the only effectual remedy known is to get rid of the 

 poison, if possible, the moment the person is bitten. This 

 may be done in several ways : first, by putting a tight band- 

 age around the part, and immediately squeezing and sucking 

 the wound for several minutes ; or by pouring water contin- 

 uously upon it ; and, lastly, employing a caustic wash. 



LOCK-JAW, OR TETANUS. 



Cause, — There are two forms of this disease. Traumatic 

 tetanus generally arises as the result of some injury, such as 

 a pricked foot, saddle galls, and wounds in the neighborhood 

 of nerves and ligaments. A very fine punctured wound, 

 scarcely noticeable, is very often followed by lock-jaw ; 

 whereas an injury from a large spike of iron seldom has a 

 sequel of this kind. 



The idiopathic form of lock-jaw is caused by exposure to 

 wet and cold, by intestinal worms, obstinate constipation, &c. 



This disease occurs in all animals, but particularly in 

 horses and sheep. It consists in a peculiar irritable state of 

 the spinal cord, producing (tonic) continued spasms of the 

 voluntary and involuntary muscles. 



Symptoms. — In this disorder of the creature the nose is 

 poked out, the tail upraised, the muscles hard and rigid, the 

 gait straddling, and the bowels constipated. But the most 

 prominent and diagnostic symptom is the protrusion of the 

 haw of the eye called the membrana nictatans, while the 

 tonic spasm of the muscles prevents the animal from open- 

 ing his mouth or swallowing any kind of food. The symp- 

 toms in the lower animals are not confined, as in man, to 

 one set of muscles, or one part of the body. They come on 

 gradually, and reach their full intensity in three or four days. 



