[p. 248]
this and wondered! The urine is retained, so as to induce
strong dysuria, or passes spontaneously from contraction of
the bladder. These symptoms occur in each variety of the
spasms.
But there are peculiarities in each; in Tetanus there is tension
in a straight line of the whole body, which is unbent and
inflexible; the legs and arms are straight.
Opisthotonos bends the patient backward, like a bow, so
that the reflected head is lodged between the shoulder-blades;
the throat protrudes; the jaw sometimes gapes, but in some
rare cases it is fixed in the upper one; respiration stertorous;
the belly and chest prominent, and in these there is usually
incontinence of urine; the abdomen stretched, and resonant if
tapped; the arms strongly bent back in a state of extension;
the legs and thighs are bent together, for the legs are bent in
the opposite direction to the hams.
But if they are bent forwards, they are protuberant at the
back, the loins being extruded in a line with the back, the
whole of the spine being straight; the vertex prone, the head
inclining towards the chest; the lower jaw fixed upon the
breast bone; the hands clasped together, the lower extremities
extended; pains intense; the voice altogether dolorous; they
groan, making deep moaning. Should the mischief then seize
the chest and the respiratory organs, it readily frees the patient
from life; a blessing this, to himself, as being a deliverance
from pains, distortion, and deformity; and a contingency less
than usual to be lamented by the spectators, were he a son
or a father. But should the powers of life still stand
out, the respiration, although bad, being still prolonged, the
patient is not only bent up into an arch but rolled together
like a ball, so that the head rests upon the knees,
while the legs and back are bent forwards, so as to convey
the impression of the articulation of the knee being dislocated
backwards.
