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spasm of the muscles used in respiration; the jaws are completely set, 

 ej'e-balls retracted, lij)s drawn tightly over the teeth, nostrils dilated, 

 and the animal presents a picture of the most extreme agony until 

 death relieves him. The pulse, which at first was not much affected, 

 Avill become quick and hard, or small and thready when the spasm 

 affects the muscles of the heart. In the subacute cases the jaws 

 may never become entirely locked ; the nervous excitability and rig- 

 idity of muscles are not so great. There is, however, always some 

 stiffness of the neck or spine manifest in turning; the haw is turned 

 over the eye-ball when the nose is elevated. It is not uncommon for 

 owners to continue such animals at their work for several days after 

 the first symptoms have been observed. All the symptoms may grad- 

 ually increase in severity for a period of ten daj^s, and then gradually 

 diminish under judicious treatment, or they may reach the stage 

 wherein all the characters of acute tetanus become developed. In 

 some cases, however, we find the muscular cramps almost solely con- 

 fined to the head or face, perhaps involving those of the neck. In 

 such cases Ave have complete trismus — lock-jaw — and all the head 

 symptoms are acutely developed. On the contrary, we may find the 

 head almost exempt in some cases, and have the body and limbs 

 perfectly rigid and incapable of movement without falling. 



Tetanus may possibly be confounded with spinal meningitis, but 

 the character of the spasm-locked jaw, retraction of the ej^eballs, the 

 difficulty in swallowing due to sjDasms of the muscles of the pharynx, 

 and, above all, the absence of paralysis, should serve to make the 

 distinction. 



Treatment. — The animal should be placed in a box-stall without 

 bedding, as far away as possible from other horses. If in a country 

 district, the animal should be put into an outbuilding or shed, where 

 the noise of other animals will not reach him; if the place is moder- 

 ately dark it is all the better; in fly time he should be covered with a 

 light sheet. The attendant must be very careful and quiet about liim, 

 to prevent all unnecessary excitement and increase of spasm. 



A cathartic, composed of Barbadoes aloes, G to 8 drams, with which 

 may be mixed 2 drams of the solid extract of belladonna, should be 

 given at once. This is best given in a ball form; if, however, the 

 animal is greatly excited by the attempt or can not swalloAv, the ball 

 may be disolved in 2 ounces of olive oil and thrown on the back of 

 the tongue with a syringe. If the jaw^s are set, or nearly so, an 

 attempt to administer medicine by the mouth should not be made. 

 In such cases one-quarter of a grain of atropia, with 5 grains of 

 sulphate of morjjhia, should be dissolved in 1 dram of pure water and 

 injected under the skin. This should be repeated sufficiently often 

 to keep the animal continually under its effect. This will usually 

 mitigate the severity of the spasmodic contraction of the affected 

 muscles and lessen sensibility to pain. Good results may be obtained 



