174 SPECIAL EQUINE THERAPY 



ing it is an intoxication of the nervous tissue of the 

 body. 



An attack of tetanus does not confer a permanent 

 immunity. Animals surviving an attack of this disease 

 do acquire a certain degree of immunity, but the periods 

 for which the immunity holds are uncertain ia length. 

 A second infection resulting in the development of a 

 second attack of the disease has been reported in as short 

 a time as two months after recovery from a primary 

 attack. 



Tetanus can be prevented with almost positive cer- 

 tainty by the proper use of prophylactic doses of anti- 

 tef anic serum. A dose should be given as soon as possible 

 after a wound of favorable character is inflicted. A sec- 

 ond dose should be given eight days later. It is quite 

 generally agreed that 500 units constitutes an ample pro- 

 phylactic dose, if a similar dose is given eight days there- 

 after. 



Tetanus appears in a more severe form in the Northern 

 states than it does in the South. Cases occurring in the 

 South nearly always terminate favorably, many of them 

 making spontaneous recoveries. Tetanus in the colder 

 climate of the North, especially in winter months, is a 

 very grave condition, accompanied by a high death rate. 

 The duration of an attack of tetanus is from four to six 

 weeks. 



Treatment. There is no treatment for this disease 

 which is accorded universal recognition. More than this, 

 there is no known form of treatment which will give 

 satisfactory results with any regularity. 



In giviQg credit for reported cures in this disease the 

 practitioner should heavily discount results reported 

 from the Southern states. Tetanus in the South, as has 

 already been remarked, is a mUd disease. I make this 

 statement out of first-hand experience with this disease 



