358 re he Management and Diseases of the Dog. 
on its side, and presents much the same appearance as if 
poisoned by strychnine, uttering strange hoarse cries be- 
tween fear and pain.* 
Death may result from asphyxia, exhaustion, or—though I 
believe it to be exceedingly rare—spasmodic contraction 
of the heart. 
Post-mortem Appearances.—These vary somewhat : most 
frequently the spinal cord and its membranes are con- 
gested ; occasionally the brain and dura mater exhibit a 
similar appearance, but more particularly so in general and 
protracted tetanus. In cases of traumatic tetanus, this 
condition is more apparent in the nerve tissue near the seat 
-of injury ; while the muscles in the same locality are soft, 
dark, and gorged with blood. In severe cases they are 
sometimes. ruptured. 
Treatment.— A \ate eminent lecturer on this subject, as 
affecting the horse, was wont to observe, in producing a 
stable door-key, that that was the best measure we could 
adopt in this disease, and the same meaning he intended to 
convey is equally applicable to the dog. Perfect quietude, 
moderate warmth, and subdued light, should always be en- 
forced in the treatment of canine tetanus. The person the 
animal is most accustomed and attached to, is the fittest 
attendant ; the susceptibility to excitement is so intense, 
that the presence of a stranger, rough handling, or loud 
* Thave heard it frequently argued that tetanus is not a painful 
disease, and that in the horse the profuse perspirations which accom- 
pany it are merely the result of absolute fear. This theory I cannot 
subscribe to, and never have agreed with. I do not for a moment dis- 
pute the presence of fear, or that it is a cause of perspiration ; but my 
reply has always been that pain must be, at all events fora time, an 
inevitable result of sudden and inordinate stimulus by the nerves 
supplying the muscles so affected. Long-continued pressure may, and 
we know will, in time produce numbness or paralysis; but in tetanus 
there being remissions of convulsion, each sudden contraction when a 
spasm comes on must produce intense pain. 
