Tetanus 335 



food, gruels, milk, green food, at level of manger ; clothing to favor per 

 spiration ; excision or antisepsis of wound, carbolic acid, bleeding, opium, 

 prussic acid, potassium cyanide, bromides, physostigma, eserine, chloro- 

 iorm, sulphonal, trioual, tartar emetic, tobacco, apomorphia, lobelia, phen- 

 acetin, acetanilid, cocaine, chloral, phenic acid, iodine terchloride, iodide 

 of potassium, orrotherapy, antitoxin ; best as a preventive, value decreases 

 with development of disease ; cerebral injections ; brain emulsion ; use up 

 toxins in blood ; no use if nerve centres are already in combination with 

 toxins, only to ward off fresh toxin. Toxins produce leucocytosis. Pre- 

 vention : disinfection of all dirty wounds, injections of phenic acid, or 

 iodine ; remove foreign bodies, use muriatic and carbolic acids ; antisepsis 

 of navel ; disinfection of stables, feet, careful shoeing ; immunization. 



Synonyms. lyockjaw. Trismus. 



Definition. An infectious disease of animals and man, charac- 

 terized by tonic spasms of the voluntary muscles in a given region 

 or more generally, with exacerbations, and dependent on the 

 laacillus tetani. 



Animals susceptible. Immunity cannot be claimed for any 

 ■class of warm blooded animal. Experimentally the dog and 

 chicken prove among the most refractory, in keeping with the 

 comparative insusceptibility of the last named animal to strychnia, 

 but neither can be held to be in any sense immune. Inoculated 

 frogs become tetanic if the temperature is maintained above the 

 normal standard. In 208 cases in domestic animals recorded by 

 Cadiot and Hoffman, 140 were in horses, 10 in mules, 5 in asses, 

 (solipeds, 155), 28 in cattle, 9 in sheep, 5 in goats, 5 in pigs, and 6 

 in dogs. Such statistics are liable to prove misleading when we 

 have no means of comparing them with the members of the 

 different genera from which the cases were drawn and the relative 

 exposure of each genus to traumatic lesions (infection atria). 

 Solipeds lead with practically ^ds of the entire number of cases, 

 but these were presumably the most numerous of the domestic 

 animals, and preeminently the work animals and therefore the 

 most liable to traumatism. Cattle follow with |th of all cases 

 but here again the large numbers to be drawn upon, and the pro- 

 portion of work oxen and wounds, are to be considered. The 

 omni\^ra and carnivora are comparatively little susceptible and 

 among these the chicken may be included. The omnivorous rat 

 is quite susceptible. 



Tetanus occurs in i per 1000 sick horses in the Prussian army 

 (Friedberger and Frohner), and in i per 3000 sick in that of 



