PRINCIPLES OF VETERINARY SURGERY 473 



the pharynx, the neck and the Hmbs. The temperature falls, 

 mastication and deglutition are easy and paroxysms disap- 

 pear. 



Resolution is slow. The convalescence is always long, 

 from three to four weeks. Certain regions may remain con- 

 tracted for a long time. The movements are rather easy, 

 but limited, and relapses are possible during the entire pe- 

 riod. 



The cause of death from tetanus is not satisfactorily ex- 

 plained. It may result from asphyxia, syncope, exhaustion 

 of the nervous system, and from inanition. Poisoning from 

 the toxin seems to have a predominating influence. It may 

 also result from a complication. Pulmonary complications, 

 — pneumonia, — from false deglutition is of common occur- 

 rence. It occurs at the beginning of or during convalescence, 

 and death results four or five days after. 



Ruminants. — The symptoms of tetanus in ruminants are 

 similar to those of the horse. The rigidity and the con- 

 tractions attract the attention to it. It first manifests itself 

 by difficulty in locomotion and mastication. The contractions 

 rapidly become apparent. The head is bent, the neck and 

 shoulders are rectilinear and erect, the ears are turned out- 

 ward and fixed, and the eyes, drawn deeply into their orbits, 

 ^ne covered with the membrana nictitans. The lips are coiv 

 tracted and shriveled, the jaws are set, and the to-ngue i? 

 'hard. Tlie e-ntire ibO(dy is figifi, the limbs -ai'ie h&n^ wiith .diffi-- 

 «ulty and the tail i^ mpf^ or less raised. WaMcing is -almost 

 im-possiible. Tf^e £ontractio-ns of the muscles of the trunk 

 ■render t<he respirations painful, dyspnoeic and accelerated, 

 ajjd tu^cks tlji* abdomen. 



P£gl-Ufti|ti.on and mastication being impossible the patient 

 becomes emaciated, and rumination beiijg suppressed lead? 

 to bloating and constipatipn. The paroxysms are wanting. 



Jhe rise o^ the temperature varies jfrom |Q° to |2° Q. fj^g 



