ON THE RE-ABSORPTION OF PUS. 
189 
I certainly did not observe this yellowish red or nankeen ap¬ 
pearance of the roots of the locomotive nerves.’^ It is, however, 
a most interesting part of morbid anatomy, and I trust that you, 
gentlemen, will endeavour to throw some light upon it. The 
plain matter of fact is, that I do not believe that the spinal chord 
of one horse in twenty, that dies of tetanus, is carefully examined; 
the knacker is always in a hurry, and the examination would be 
a matter of impossibility at the stable of the owner. Amidst 
the filth of the knacker’s yard it can hardly be satisfactorily 
conducted ; and we know to our cost, that those hungry im¬ 
posing fellows would charge us nearly or quite the price of the 
whole horse for the spine, and especiall}^ if they knew the pur¬ 
pose for which we wanted it. From some or all of these causes, 
it results that we have scarcely upon record an examination of 
the post-mortem appearance of the spinal chord of a tetanic 
horse, and most certainly we have not one satisfactory one. We 
must wipe off the disgrace. The question is one of too great 
importance to be left thus in abeyance. 
No Necessity for the Distmetions used hy Medical Writers ,— 
Medical writers describe various kinds of tetanus. They speak 
of tetanus anticus, or spasm of the flexors, bending the body for¬ 
ward—dorsalis, or spasm of the extensors, and bending the body 
backwards—lateralis, or spasm, principally of one side, and in¬ 
clining the frame to that side—and erectus, including both, and 
keeping the frame upright and fixed. We have nothing to do 
with these things; ours is the tetanus erectus, affecting equally 
both sides of the horse, and making him sometimes a perfect 
fixture. 
THE RE-ABSORPTION OF PUS, CONSIDERED AS 
AN IMMEDIATE CAUSE OF DISEASE. 
M. Renault, Professor at the School of Alfort, and Prin¬ 
cipal Editor of the Recueil, 
, [Continued from page 159.] 
The following cases are selected from our canine patients:— 
CASE III. 
February 2, 1831.—A dog was brought to the hospital on 
account of a large painful tumour, extending from the channel 
between the jaws, and which it occupied entirely, quite to the 
middle of the right cheek. According to the report of the owner, 
the tumour had developed itself immediately after a blow which 
V o L. v 111. D d 
