LOCKED-JAW 429 



made of shammy leather, stuffed with tow, and having 

 a cup-shaped extremity. This knob must be firmly 

 attached, by having long thongs proceeding from the 

 edges of the leather, and firmly welted down by the 

 enveloping twine. See Plate x, fig. 19. The purpose 

 of the cup-shaped extremity is to make certain of 

 pushing forward the obstructing food, which but for 

 this termination might slip past it. Great care must 

 be taken that the knob is properly attached, as, should 

 it come off, it must ever remain in the stomach, an 

 undigestible incumbrance, which is certain to create 

 disease. The cup-shaped termination should be 

 formed of tin, with a number of holes in it to permit 

 of the leather being sown to it. See Plate x, fig. 20. 

 Whalebone, if sufficiently long, is preferable to cane, 

 as being much more elastic. Great care must be 

 exercised on using the probang, or otherwise the 

 oesophagus may be ruptured. 



LOCKED-JAW. 



Symptoms. — Tetanus or locked-jaw is at once 

 distinguished by the animal being incapable of moving 

 his jaw or of opening his mouth for the reception of 

 food. It consists of a spasmodic contraction of the 

 muscles by which the jaw is moved. If means cannot 

 be devised to remove the spasm, the animal attacked 

 must necessarily die for want of food. 



Cause. — The causes giving rise to lock-jaw and 

 other forms of tetanus, is the same in all animals, viz., 

 the entrance, through a wound, of the '' Bacillus 

 Tetani " into the tissues of the affected animal, and as 

 these have been already considered in dealing with 

 the disease in the horse, the reader is referred for 

 further information to page 1 3 of this work. 



