PRINCIPLES OF VETERINARY SURGERY 441 



Certain empirical practices are the cause of tetanic com- 

 plications. The use of spider's web as a hsemostatic is, dan- 

 gerous because it is always filled with dust. Burns may be 

 infected when dressed with scrapings of raw potatoes, which 

 vegetable is never entirely free from earthy particles. Poul- 

 tices of cow's dung, frequently used for foot diseases, are 

 also a cause of infection. 



Wounds of the Mucous Membranes. — The buccal mu- 

 cous membrane by dental irregularities, intestinal mucosa by 

 foreign bodies, conjunctiva, vagina, etc., may serve as pas- 

 sages for the micro-organism of tetanus. Among colts, teta- 

 nus may be the consequence of infection through the umbili- 

 cus. Hartman observed it as an enzootic outbreak. 



Ox. — In the ox all kinds of wounds (horn-thrusts; wounds 

 of the neck from the tie-rope; the application of trochisci of 

 hellebore root ; dystocia ; metritis ; w^ounds at the base of the 

 horn from the tie strap; abortion) may be followed by teta- 

 nus. It is more specially observed after parturition. This 

 is puerperal tetanus; the bacillus is inoculated in wounds of 

 the vagina or uterus. Its evolution is favored by the state , 

 of putrefaction existing from retained placenta. 



Among calves and lambs omphalophlebitis is often com- 

 plicated with tetanus that occurs as an enzootic disease. 

 Umbilical infection often follows the custom of dressing the 

 navel with potter's clay. The castration of lambs with clamps 

 or by extraction, or the amputation of their tails, is often 

 followed by enzootic tetanus. The inoculation of sheep-pox 

 has also caused an outbreak of tetanus in the epizootic form. 

 In the hog tetanus has occurred after castration and after 

 different wounds. In the dog it is especially seen after crush- 

 ing of the toes or extremities of the limbs. 



TETANUS TOXIN. TETANIC POISON.— Nico- 

 laier's bacillus, remaining at the point of inoculation, causes 

 the symptoms of the disease because of the poison it secretes. 



