PRINCIPLES OF VETERINARY SURGERY 423 



firmed by Rosenbach in 1886, completed by Kitasato who 

 isolated the specific agent in 1889, by Sanchez Toledo and 

 Veillon (1889) and by Rouget, whose elegant works threw 

 a vivid light upon the pathogenesis of the disease. In 1899, 

 Knud Faber began the study of the soluble product con- 

 tained in the cultures, and Vaillard, Behring and Kitasato 

 subsequently vaccinated animals and demonstrated the pre- 

 ventive properties of their blood serum. 



Thus the nature of this disease, which had remained 

 a mystery for centuries, was elucidated. It is today a much 

 studied disease, as effective treatment remains to be dis- 

 covered. 



Tetanus exists everywhere — in every latitude. It seems 

 to be frequent in equatorial regions. In the Antilles — in 

 Havana — it causes a third of the mortality among the new- 

 born. In equatorial Africa, as well as in Ireland, it is 

 found. In France it was very frequent in certain districts 

 during the past century. Among animals it is relatively 



rare. 



ANNOTATION. 



In America tetanus is a common disease of the horses working in the 

 larger cities. While it has been observed in all parts of the United States 

 the cases occurring in the country districts are comparatively few as com- 

 pared with city animals. In the routine of a city practice it is encountered 

 only in the horse. The other animals seem to be possessed of a pronounced 

 immunity against accidental infection of tetanus. In eighteen years' practice 

 in the City of Chicago, where equine tetanus is ever present, we have never 

 met the disease in either the dog or ox. White saw two cases in the dog 

 in seventeen years of continuous dog practice.* In the American cities the 

 disease is much more common among animals than in the human being. 

 In the latter it is comparatively rare, so rare that even the wide-awake 

 American surgeon does not often regard it necessary to administer preven- 

 tive treatment to patients suffering from wounds suitable for the propagation 

 of tetanus. The greater number of cases are seen following the Fourth of 

 July, on which day many boys sustain wounds from toy pistols and fire 

 crackers, which are precisely the kind of lesion that favors the disease. With 

 the exception of this incident, — which often assumes the proportion of a 

 veritable epidemic, — tetanus cases in the human being are mighty rare in 

 the country districts and of only nominal frequency in the cities. — L. A. M. 



* The June number of the Bulletin of the Chicago Veterinary College re- 

 ports another case of tetanus in a dog from Dr. White's hospital. 



