SPECIFIC DISEASES. 279 



through an abrasion in the mucoiis membrane of the alimentary 

 canal, the germ having been taken into the system with the food. 

 That form of nervous affection, arising after exposure to cold 

 storms or the hot sun, in which many sheep become affected 

 simultaneously, cannot be said to be tetanus proper, but rather 

 a condition of innervation, accompanied with tetanic spasms, as 

 a result of the perverted nervous functions. This condition is 

 not nearly so fatal as tetanus proper, and will frequently yield 

 to treatment. 



Rams, when castrated, are liable to develop tetanus; sheep, 

 after shearing, have also been known to suffer from this disease. 

 It is also met with as a sequel to parturition, in which event 

 metritis, (inflammation of the womb), is always present. 



Symptoms. 



First signs of this disorder are a stiffness of the head and 

 neck, involuntary twitchings of the superficial muscles of the 

 face; the animal grinds its teeth; the jaws in a short time become 

 rigid; the whole carcass becomes affected, the muscles of the 

 neck especially become hard and knotty; the neck is curved, 

 drawing the nose out straight, pointing, if anything, slightly up- 

 wards; the limbs become stiff. The condition of rigidity is sub- 

 ject to periods of excitability, during which the patient is thrown 

 into convulsions, the rigidity being more marked and severe 

 following each period of convulsion. The disease in sheep tends 

 to run a rapid course, generally terminating fatally in from ten 

 to twenty-four hours after the seizure. 



Creatment. 



If due to wound infection or following castration, wash out 

 the wound with a strong antiseptic wash — five per cent, watery 

 solution of carbolic acid, or a one to 1000 solution of corrosive 

 sublimate. In all these cases give the wound plenty of air en- 

 larffina the cut if necessarv. 



