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Notes on Tetanus
160
The Veterinary Journal.
every success in his investigations in South Africa, and hope soon to have corroborative evidence from his pen with reference also to the other features of the disease we have above enumerated. Somewhat allied to Anthrax, and showing the close connection that sometimes subsists between it and Rewittent Fever, is Typhoid Fever, which kills so many young soldiers in almost every station in India. NOTES ON TETANUS. BY A. M. CREIGHTON, M.R.C.V.S. 1 LISBURN .
MucH has been said and written concerning the contagious nature of Tetanus, and it is of great importance that we, as a body, should try to elucidate facts concerning any given disease; and this one in particular, as it is fatal in a great many instances. A recent case that I have had under my treatment I will give the particulars of. I was called to see a black gelding, seven years old, on September gth, 1887, and the history of this case is as follows:The animal had been in a cart the day previous, removing stones out of a field ; the weather was very cold, with snow showers, and stormy. When he was brought in at night he did not show any signs of disease, but in the morning he could not open his jaws to take in food. The stable was well ventilated, but a little draughty; the animal stood in his accustomed stall, with four other horses in the stable that night. The day being very cold with snow showers, the temperature became reduced below the freezing point, so that the cold freezing air passing in through the stable (the animal having been sweating throughout the day) may have caused the disease. The diet he got was the same as the others received, and was carried to it in the same bucket (the bucket many a time not cleaned of the saliva from the diseased horse) before the healthy ones were fed. This animal also stood in the same stall during convalescence, and none of the oth ers took the disease, and there has not been a single case in the neighbourhood since. This fact does not go to prove that Tetanus is contagious. I visited him daily, giving him medicinal treatment till October 4th, 1887, when he got well, and has been working every day since. In this case the jaws were very firmly locked, so much so that I could scarcely get in a shilling between them. I attribute this case to the cold the animal stood out in during the day, and also the coldness of the weather that night and the draughty stable. There was no wound on the body. Another case I had under my notice was that of a grey mare, eight years old. In this case the saddle-pad had become low, and
The Ur£ne £n Azoturia.
161
the back had got injured by the framework of the pad, a wound being the result. I treated this animal in the same way as the first, attending to the wound with antiseptic dressings. This animal died. Before this case appeared there had not been one in the locality for a long time, and there has not been one since near the same place, and that is sixteen months ago. Another animal has stood in the same stall for the above-mentioned period, and never showed any symptoms of Tetanus. The stall was not disinfected when the mare died, nor were any precautions taken to guard against the supposed contagious nature of Tetanus; and the animal that has stood in it for sixteen months at the time of writing this, has no signs of sickness of any kind. This latter case also tends to prove that Tetanus is not a contagious disease.
THE URINE IN AZOTURIA. BY
R.
SHENTON,
M.R.C.V.S. 1
BELPER.
HAVING seen in the journals that there is at the present time a divergence in opinion as to the nature of the urine in the disease designated Azoturia, and, having recently had a case, a few observations on the point t'n disputatione, as well as a brief account of the case, may not be altogether uninteresting to the readers of the VETERINARY jOURNAL.
On the . 18th of last month I was called in to see a horse, the property of a Mr. Meddings, who resides a short distance from Belper, but being unfortunately out at the time, another man's services were called into requisition. The next morning, however, the owner again came for me, saying he was anxious that I should see the case, and, in compliance with his request, I went, and found the horse to be suffering from Azoturia. I ascertained that he had had some extra rest previous to his being brought out on the day he was attacked ; that the owner had pretty good grounds for believing the boy, whose duty it was to look after him, had been giving rather more corn than was usual, and that on being brought out he went very well, but after having gone a considerable distance, he began to stumble, and finally dropped down helpless. He was in a loose box sweating profustly, and dashing his head about in a most dangerous manner ; indeed, I ordered his head to be secured by means of a halter, otherwise he would most certainly have inflicted upon himself further mischief. The chief symptoms, besides those alluded to, were: pulse So, small in volume, conjunctival membrane deeply injected, temperature 104Q, gluteal and other muscles of the hind legs in a state of tonic spasm- as
The Veterinary Journal.
every success in his investigations in South Africa, and hope soon to have corroborative evidence from his pen with reference also to the other features of the disease we have above enumerated. Somewhat allied to Anthrax, and showing the close connection that sometimes subsists between it and Rewittent Fever, is Typhoid Fever, which kills so many young soldiers in almost every station in India. NOTES ON TETANUS. BY A. M. CREIGHTON, M.R.C.V.S. 1 LISBURN .
MucH has been said and written concerning the contagious nature of Tetanus, and it is of great importance that we, as a body, should try to elucidate facts concerning any given disease; and this one in particular, as it is fatal in a great many instances. A recent case that I have had under my treatment I will give the particulars of. I was called to see a black gelding, seven years old, on September gth, 1887, and the history of this case is as follows:The animal had been in a cart the day previous, removing stones out of a field ; the weather was very cold, with snow showers, and stormy. When he was brought in at night he did not show any signs of disease, but in the morning he could not open his jaws to take in food. The stable was well ventilated, but a little draughty; the animal stood in his accustomed stall, with four other horses in the stable that night. The day being very cold with snow showers, the temperature became reduced below the freezing point, so that the cold freezing air passing in through the stable (the animal having been sweating throughout the day) may have caused the disease. The diet he got was the same as the others received, and was carried to it in the same bucket (the bucket many a time not cleaned of the saliva from the diseased horse) before the healthy ones were fed. This animal also stood in the same stall during convalescence, and none of the oth ers took the disease, and there has not been a single case in the neighbourhood since. This fact does not go to prove that Tetanus is contagious. I visited him daily, giving him medicinal treatment till October 4th, 1887, when he got well, and has been working every day since. In this case the jaws were very firmly locked, so much so that I could scarcely get in a shilling between them. I attribute this case to the cold the animal stood out in during the day, and also the coldness of the weather that night and the draughty stable. There was no wound on the body. Another case I had under my notice was that of a grey mare, eight years old. In this case the saddle-pad had become low, and
The Ur£ne £n Azoturia.
161
the back had got injured by the framework of the pad, a wound being the result. I treated this animal in the same way as the first, attending to the wound with antiseptic dressings. This animal died. Before this case appeared there had not been one in the locality for a long time, and there has not been one since near the same place, and that is sixteen months ago. Another animal has stood in the same stall for the above-mentioned period, and never showed any symptoms of Tetanus. The stall was not disinfected when the mare died, nor were any precautions taken to guard against the supposed contagious nature of Tetanus; and the animal that has stood in it for sixteen months at the time of writing this, has no signs of sickness of any kind. This latter case also tends to prove that Tetanus is not a contagious disease.
THE URINE IN AZOTURIA. BY
R.
SHENTON,
M.R.C.V.S. 1
BELPER.
HAVING seen in the journals that there is at the present time a divergence in opinion as to the nature of the urine in the disease designated Azoturia, and, having recently had a case, a few observations on the point t'n disputatione, as well as a brief account of the case, may not be altogether uninteresting to the readers of the VETERINARY jOURNAL.
On the . 18th of last month I was called in to see a horse, the property of a Mr. Meddings, who resides a short distance from Belper, but being unfortunately out at the time, another man's services were called into requisition. The next morning, however, the owner again came for me, saying he was anxious that I should see the case, and, in compliance with his request, I went, and found the horse to be suffering from Azoturia. I ascertained that he had had some extra rest previous to his being brought out on the day he was attacked ; that the owner had pretty good grounds for believing the boy, whose duty it was to look after him, had been giving rather more corn than was usual, and that on being brought out he went very well, but after having gone a considerable distance, he began to stumble, and finally dropped down helpless. He was in a loose box sweating profustly, and dashing his head about in a most dangerous manner ; indeed, I ordered his head to be secured by means of a halter, otherwise he would most certainly have inflicted upon himself further mischief. The chief symptoms, besides those alluded to, were: pulse So, small in volume, conjunctival membrane deeply injected, temperature 104Q, gluteal and other muscles of the hind legs in a state of tonic spasm- as