NORTH OF ENGLAND VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 483 
with rigidity. It is one of the most painful and melancholy 
diseases which flesh is heir to; common to the horse, occur¬ 
ring occasionally in the ox and sheep, but seldom in the dog. 
The various forms are distinguished as acute, chronic, trau¬ 
matic, symptomatic, and idiopathic, which, however, are 
various, according to the different class of muscles more or 
less involved. When the maxillary and pharyngeal muscles 
are rigidly affected, it is denominated “ trismusand 
when all the voluntary muscles of the neck, spine, tail, and 
extremities, are spasmodically affected, it is then designated 
“ tetanus” 
The idiopathic form of this disease in the horse is con- • 
sidered by many “ veterinarians ” to be the most frequent; 
but, speaking from my own experience, I have had more cases 
of the traumatic character. 
This dreadful and often fatal disorder proceeds from various 
causes; a very fertile source is wet and exposure to cold, or 
a sudden chill after severe exercise. It arises, also, from 
local injuries such as punctures, incisions, lacerations, and 
bruises; or sometimes even spontaneously, as in hot climates. 
I have known it to follow on firing, docking, castration, punc¬ 
tures of the feet, wounds in the joints of the extremities, in¬ 
juries to the spinous processes,scapular, nasal, and orbital bones. 
When the disease has arisen in consequence of a puncture, 
or any other external injury, the symptoms show themselves 
generally from the sixth to the tenth day; but when it pro¬ 
ceeds from exposure to cold, they appear frequently much 
earlier; in some instances, however, it comes on suddenly, 
and with great violence ; but it more usually makes its attack 
in a gradual manner, in which case a slight stiffness is at first 
perceived in the neck; the muscles of the eye, especially the 
retractor oculi, shows the earliest spasms. 
The diagnosis of “ tetanus ” in the horse is, generally 
speaking, very easy. On the first appearance of the disease the 
patient appears to ail but little; he neighs when any one 
enters the stable, and seems eager for food, which together 
with saliva drops from his mouth; his jaws are found to be 
stiff, and the eye to squint. As the disease continues to advance 
the affected muscles feel hard to the touch, and he moves as 
if he were a single piece; the motion is painful, and agitation 
produces the greatest distress. During the whole course of 
the disorder the abdominal muscles are violently affected with 
spasm, so that the belly is strongly contracted and feels very 
hard, whilst the most obstinate costiveness prevails; and as 
the disease extends over the voluntary muscles of the trunk 
and extremities, the appearances are distressing in the ex¬ 
treme, whilst profuse perspiration bedews the whole frame. 
