472 J)R T. R. FRASER ON SOME UNDESCRIBED TETANIC SYMPTOMS 



the end of the third day ; and on the fourth day the frog had entered the tetanic- 

 stage— a slight touch of the skin being followed by opisthotonic tetanus lasting 

 for four seconds. 



On the sixth day, at 1.50 p.m., a touch of the left ankle caused a violent 

 attack of emprosthotonic tetanus, during which both posterior extremities were 

 rigidly extended for three seconds. At 1.51, a touch of the right ankle caused a 

 similar tetanic convulsion, which lasted in both posterior extemities for three 

 seconds. 



On the same day (sixth), at 2.10 p.m., the spinal cord was divided imme- 

 diately below the brachial enlargement ; and, it is important to note, extremely 

 little blood was lost by this operation (about a drop only). At 2.21 p.m., a touch 

 of the right ankle caused rigid tetanic extension of both posterior extremities for 

 two seconds.. At 2.22, a touch of the left ankle caused similar extension for 

 three seconds. The anterior portion of the body took no part whatever in these 

 convulsions; but when the skin at the head or anywhere anterior to the section 

 of the cord was touched, the regions supplied by the anterior segment of the 

 divided cord were at once thrown into a state of tetanus. These latter attacks 

 lasted for about four seconds ; and during them the regions supplied by the 

 posterior segment of the divided cord were unaffected. 



On the seventh day, a touch of either ankle caused violent tetanus of both 

 posterior extremities and of the muscles at the lower part of the flanks, lasting 

 for five seconds ; and immediately after the tetanic contraction had ceased, a 

 series of clonic spasms occurred in these regions for other fifteen seconds. A 

 touch of the skin anterior to the position of the section of the cord was followed 

 by violent tetanus of the anterior portion of the frog, lasting for about eight 

 seconds. 



This condition of independently excitable tetanus of the anterior and posterior 

 segments continued, with but little change in the character of the excited attacks, 

 until the nineteenth day of the experiment. There were, however, in this pro- 

 longed period, some differences in the duration of the tetanic convulsions: 

 for, on the eighth day, after slight stimulation, the posterior extremities were 

 rigidly extended for six seconds, and were then affected with clonic spasms for 

 seventy seconds ; on the eleventh day, the rigid extension lasted for four 

 seconds, and the succeeding clonic spasms for twelve ; on the fourteenth day, 

 the rigid extension lasted for four seconds, and the clonic spasms for only two; 

 and on the eighteenth day, the rigid extension lasted for four seconds, but in 

 place of a series of clonic spasms, it was succeeded by merely two or three faint 

 twitches. 



On the nineteenth day, tetanus of the posterior extremities was caused only 

 when the stimulation was severe ; and there was now no evidence of increased 

 reflex excitability in the anterior part of the frog. 



