712 TETANUS AND ITS PROFITABLE DISCUSSION. 
writers on the subject mostly based tbeir communications on 
their own practical experience ; now, however, Mr. Andrew 
Simpson entirely diverges from this course, and takes to 
himself the pen critically sarcastic. He complains of my 
having handled his name and paper too freely; if so, I can 
only say it was far from wilfully done. He then proceeds 
to a long criticism of my communication, and, in so doing, so 
misrepresents and confuses my remarks, that I almost fail to 
recognise my own case. 
Whatever Mr. Simpson’s ideas may he on the subject, or 
however fondly he may cherish them, there are a few of the 
statements in my previous communication as to tetanus, 
which, however contradictory to his opinions, are not proved 
and supported by experience and records, both medical and 
veterinary ; namely, that the treatment of this disease is very 
difficult and unsatisfactory ; that idiopathic tetanus is far more 
amenable to treatment than traumatic tetanus ; that intesti- 
nal worms are considered by the highest authorities a cause 
of idiopathic tetanus ; and that as regards equine practice 
it is absolutely necessary in severe cases of this disease to 
have recourse to slings. 
I am aware that there has never been any medicine 
successful, in even a fair moiety of cases, in reducing the 
frightful tonic spasms of tetanus. Aconite does it in some, 
hydrocyanic acid in other instances ; but neither of the two 
gives us anything like the usual percentage of recoveries ob- 
tained in diseases analogous to tetanus. In fact, from all I 
have seen, heard, or read, it is the most intractable and fatal 
disease to be met with. No wonder, then, that Mr. Simp- 
son’s success with hydrocyanic acid took me somewhat by 
surprise, nine recovered out of twelve cases, two died, and 
one destroyed. This was rather more than 75 per cent. ; and, 
considering this, Mr. Simpson (having a “ strong faith in 
the philosophy of the results”) tells us that hydrocyanic 
acid is his sheet-anchor ; in another place he does not know 
if hydrocyanic acid he at all necessary ; but finally he con- 
cludes it will he as well to give it, as in one case where he 
left off giving it the symptoms became worse. I saw a great 
deal of hydrocyanic acid used during my college practice, and 
the results, as already stated, were not such as to call for any 
great amount of faith being put in it ; in fact, I have never 
used it in tetanus. Two years ago I brought through a trau- 
matic case with repeated doses of opium, calomel, and aloes, in 
conjunction with the application of the sheepskin. Last year 
I had an idiopathic case which recovered without any internal 
treatment. Since my last communication I have adopted the 
