TETANUS IN A MULE. 
315 
bowels were constipated, and the pulse considerably in- 
creased. In a word, it was an aggravated form of tetanus 
I had to deal with, but without trismus being fully completed, 
as the jaws were moveable to the extent of about an inch 
and a half, which enabled the animal to take a bran mash, 
and also afforded me the opportunity of giving a ball with 
the instrument usually employed for such purposes. I first 
had my patient removed from an open shed, where she had 
been standing in rather an exposed situation, into a com- 
fortable and quiet stable, and my investigations were then 
directed to discover, if possible, the cause of the malady, 
but I was unable to do so, and, consequently, it must be 
considered as idiopathic in its origin. 
The treatment was commenced by giving — 
Cathar. Mass., 5yj et Pulv. Cannabis Indicus, 5ij> 
night and morning, until the bowels were rather freely acted 
upon, which took place on the morning of the 15th. Up to 
this time she appeared to get rather worse ; and as the ad- 
ministration of the medicine in the form of a ball produced 
additional paroxysms, I now commenced giving 
Cannabis Indicus et Sacch. Purif., aa 5ij, 
in the form of a powder, mixed with her mashes, of which 
she took freely. 
This treatment was continued twice a day until the 3d 
of March, when my store of the hemp was exhausted. The 
improvement from the 15th of February, the third day from 
the attack, was slow but still daily perceptible ; and, on the 
5th of April, I gave directions for her to go to her accustomed 
labour, all appearances of the disease having passed away for 
some time. 
I believe that the resinous gum, or an extract of the plant, 
is more to be depended on than the simple powder ; vide 
Mr. Fulton’s excellent description of the Cannabis, published 
in the Veterinarian for October, 1 855 ; but there is an advantage 
in exhibiting it in the form of a powder, as when taken w ith 
the food, the excitement, and therefore the additional suffer- 
ing to the animal, consequent on the giving of a ball, is in 
these cases avoided. 
I must confess, however, to be very sceptical of the benefit 
of any known medicine in tetanus, having seen cases recover 
from totally opposite treatment, and several without any treat- 
ment worthy of notice being adopted, so that I am anxiously 
seeking for some new agent deserving of more confidence 
than any in our list of anaesthetics or antispasmodics. 
