ON TETANUS. 67 
cause. I have no doubt by so doing a fund of useful knowledge 
may be elicited. 
Now, with regard to tetanus arising from external injuries or 
other obvious causes which we term sympathetic; a horse receives 
a wound, punctured or lacerated ; suppose it to be the latter, as 
in the instance of a carriage horse belonging to a nobleman by 
whom I am employed, and which had a broken knee. I was not 
called in until the wound was nearly healed ; healthy granulations 
had formed, and the cicatrix was rapidly completing, but the horse 
was found one morning with his jaw closely locked, and as stiff 
all over as a statue. I recommended that he should be destroyed, 
which was done very soon afterwards, when I had an opportunity 
of examining him. The sympathetic nerves in this case were also 
affected, but more particularly on the left side (it was the near 
knee that was broken); those of the axilla were most decidedly 
vascular. The villous coat of the stomach and small intestines 
put on a slight appearance of inflammation. 
I have seen a case of tetanus, produced from a wound in the 
foot, cured by the operation of neurotomy; I have also known 
the same treatment in other cases fail: so also, in tetanus arising 
from docking, horses have recovered by the diseased part being 
removed; other cases of the same kind have failed. 1 particularly 
recollect having examined one case, where I found the spinal 
nerves very vascular, and the intestines bordering on inflammation.. 
These appearances naturally lead me to a belief that, unless an 
operation can be performed in a very early stage of the complaint* 
we have but little chance of success. 
I shall now draw towards a conclusion by relating, as well as 
my memory will permit, two successful cases which have come 
under my knowledge not very long ago. In the first, a half-bred 
buggy horse received an extensive lacerated wound in the fore 
arm, extending round the knee. He was attended by a very re¬ 
spectable veterinary surgeon, who was using his utmost exertions 
to heal the wound with as little blemish as possible. The wound 
was doing well; but the horse being excessively irritable, symp¬ 
toms of tetanus came on, which although they were decided, 
were not violent. I was consulted, and we discontinued the ban¬ 
dage, and applied fomentations and poultices. He had had physic ; 
and I recommended a ball consisting of a drachm of opium and two 
of aloes twice a-day; this treatment was continued, with trifling 
alteration, for about ten days, carefully avoiding any thing which 
might produce constitutional irritation. The wound healed with 
very little blemish, and the horse is now at work in good health. 
The next case was rather singular, inasmuch as the horse was 
of an indolent disposition, and I was not able, by the strictest in- 
