Observations upon the Effects of Electricity Applied to a Tetanus, or Muscular Rigidity, of Four Months Continuance. In a Letter to the Royal Society. By William Watson, M. D. F. R

Observations upon the Effects of Electricity Applied to a Tetanus, or Muscular Rigidity, ofFour Months Continuance. In a Letter to the Royal Society. By William Watson, M. D. F. R. S.Member of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of London and Madrid, and Physician to theFoundling HospitalAuthor(s): William WatsonSource: Philosophical Transactions (1683-1775), Vol. 53 (1763), pp. 10-26Published by: The Royal SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/105695 .

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[ l ]

VI. O;J>att'oXsGpoG theEffeSkefI?leSrtcigy appli-ed {o a Tetanus, or MucillarRigidityZ of j0t Monthx ConMvance. In a Letter td the RoyalSociety. By William Wat- forl, lkE. D. F. R. S. Member of the Royal Colles of Phy{lcians Qf London and Madrid, and Phyficiaa to the Found- ling Hofpital.

To the Royal Society.

Gentlemen, ReadFeb. Io, rVER fince your eRabli&ment the

1763* - eemmunicating the hiflcory Qf U-

common diSeaSes has feldom failed of a favourable reception by you, and has been frequently thought to merit a place in yotlr journals and regiRer-books. This has emboldened me to lay before you the fol- lowing hiRoryX

CATHERINE FIBLD, a girl in the Foundling EIof- pital, aged about feven Years, and otherwife a healthy child, having been difiordered a few days wsth what were confidered as complaints arifing from worms, wasobSerared, on ThurSday, July 8,I76s, toopen her tnouth with great difficulty. This particular cir- cumfiance increaSed fo much, that by the Sunday followingX when I firl} faw her, her teeth were fo much contined, st was with difliculty that even li- quidscould be admitted into her mouth She had two days befbre parted -with tvfo worms, and had

feveral



[ tI ]

feveral very ofFenfive Rools. Her breath was nowr, and had been for fome days, very feiid.

Though her Jaw was locked very clofe, fhe was withoutpain; even in the Temporal and Maffieter muScles, whofie office is- to bring the underjaw to theupper; and which, in thisSinRance, weretenfies hard, and fpaEmodi£ally affedred. She was feverilO, her pulfe was quickj and her flcSh hot; alld lEe had had but very little fleep.

On Monday, JulyB I2, I vifited this poor girl in confiul:tation with my learned and ingenious friend and collegue Dr. Morton. We found {he had-had a reItlefs night; her fever was high, and it was inS nitely diicult to intoduce any ehing between her teeth. : As there Shad been no wound, -no eruption repelled, we were of op;nione from her oinfiere breath- and other ixtdications, that the fipafm of her 3tw s fymptomattc, either o£ worms or foul bo<s.

Whatever was admitted into hea mouth was fwal- lowellwithxtdifi£ulty; neitherin thisfllateofthe difeMe was her breathing a-t a11 affe&ed. The- regs-- men we put this patient un:der for this formidable complaint, will be mentioned hereafter.

For nQr three weeks the diSorder cmSned itSeIf to the jawa during which time fhe was; coEfiAely fever- i^. At txmc; illdeed her fieverAran verybigh, and her pulIE beat I3O krokes fXn a man£e.. At >-ir times it bea-t only about Ioo; but ncer X thde three weeks was it {lower than thae number

NotwithEandlngourbell endeavours,- the difea-fe E¢oe only continued, bllt tli rxgidity communieated

itW to e-mu;cles d her xcl;> fo that Ihe ould not

C 2 mOYt



[ I2. ]

INOVE her head in tlle leaR: And from pains ffiaot- lng down her back, we had reafon to apprehead, and which illdeed did iXoon afterhappenX tllat the nuScles of her back would fioon likewife be rigId.

Afterthe back was affedred, the difeafeextended itSelf very faft; fo that by the end of September, aR- tnoIl all the muCcles of her body were rigid and moti- onlefs. To be fomewhat more particlllar; the rigidity from the Teluporal and Mafl eter muScles had extended itSelf to the cheeks, to the neck, breaIl, ab- dominal muCcles, all thofe of the back, the right arm, the hips, thighs, legs, and feet. Nor were they by any force, that could be exerted wethfafety, to be extended. By the rigidity and contradion of the large and long tnuScles of the back, the Os Sacrum and hips were pulled towards the Ihoulders; Ib that the fpine formed a stery confiderable arch. By the fuperior Ilrength of the Flexor mufcles of the thighs to that of the Extenfors, the legs were pulled up al- moR to the -thighs.

Of all her limbs, the left arm only preServed any motion. Of this the joint of the {houlder was rigid, that of the elbow extremely impaired; but the wri{l, hand, and fingers, were reafonably pliant The various muScles filbServient to the moeions of the eyes, eyelids, lips, and tongue; as wellas thoWe, internal ones at leaR, which ai10 in performing the offices of reEpiration and deglutition, did not feem in the leaR to partake of the rigidity.

From the end of September to the middle of November, the diSeafe, as though it had exerted all its power, was at a Iland. The feveriSh heat had Xeti her, and her pulie beat generally between eighty

and



[ 13 ] and ninety Rrokes in a minute. But during this in- terval the poor patient was feized many times, both in the night and in the day, with violent consulfions in thofe muScles of tile eyes, face, and right arm, which had any nuobility left. Thefe were fo fevere, tilat, in her weak and wretched &ate, her attend- ants imagined every attack would put an end to hes dillreSes.

In this Rate, partly from the feverity of the difeafe and partly from the very fmall quantityof food which could be given to 11er, and which was only through a fmall opening made by extradting two of her teeth and withOue which the muR inevitably have been Rarved, lhe was etnaciated in a moR extraordinary manner. Her belly was contraeted, and pulled in- wards towards the fpine. Her whole body, to the touch, felthard and dry, and much more like that of a dead animal than a living one. This, added to the very great diflcortion of her back and lower limbs, heightened the difagreeable fpeEtacle} and called to my mind that admirable pafl*age of * AretEus, who, when treating of and contemplating this difeaSes calls it(<inhumanacalamitas, injucundus afpeetus, tri(le <¢ intuenti fped3:aculum, et malum inEanabile." And he fubioins, iat ' their diRortions are fuch, that they zc cannot be known by their moIt intimate friends.'t which in the cafe before us was tnoR Itridtly true.

During the continuance of this difiorder, which had la(ted nomr more than four months, noehing had been omitted that either Dr. Morton or mySelf

* Cap. vi Egoc>§e"7ros w ¢UE^tofn, xos >w£ivrt; Msw n o++ oSyncti g X06; Gd o;owl §¢n, ¢wr,xfjov a so Sssp6>.

¢ould



[ 14 ] could fugget} for her relief. While tol-nls or fou-l bovfels could be fuEpecRedto have occafiot}ed this sllnefs, as her (tools were at firll very offienfive, and ffie had lroided two worms, vermifuges of the moflc celebrated kind, linfeed oil both by the mouth and by clyfiers, and fuch other medicines as tend both to carry off or deItroy the worms, and cleanSe the bowels, were aIElduoufiy adlninifiered. But no relief arifing frotrl thefe, bleeding with leaches at the temples, when her fever ran high, bliiters behind the ears, round the neck, upon the head, and in various parts of her body, were from tinze to time

applied, as the di(*order feemed to indicate. Nor during this time were antifpaftodic remedies of various kinds omitted, and-that in lrery liberaldofes. Atnong thefe, as in Several cafes of locked Jaws, reF lated by authors of 1lndoubted credit, opiates had been found to have been attended with great fuccefs, Tindura Thebaica was copiouily given. So thatX between the I 2th of July and the end of the month, more than nine hundred drops of that tindrut were taken: A large quantity fior fo young a perfon ! This we fometimes thought had a good efl5edc, as the jaw vas at times fomewhae loofened; but this advantage s temporary, and tle Aridture foon returned as fevere as before.

Though this lnedicine, given in lzge doSes, drd not affcd ller head, but only gave her quiee nights, yet X was occafionally obliged to be leufpended; as her pulfi-e was at times much funk, and her fweats cold and clammy. Volatile linlments -were liberally uSed to the ngid pares, and warm bathing was continued Sor many -weeks, with much frierion, while in the warm water.

After x



[ I5 ]

After warm bathing had been fo long tried with- outfienfiblygoodeffeEt, cold bathing, recommended b,qr Hippocrates * for the ctlre of this difeaSe, was dlreAed; and {he was dipped Severat times, without brng apparently the better or worfe for it.

lFrom the end of September, as what had been done hitherto had not been able to prevent the rigi- dityextending itWelf, we deEzfted from attempting to rclienre her by medicine, and determined to nouri(h and fupport her; and wait to obEerve, though it was ficarcX to be expefted, whether nature unaffil0- ed would point out any crifis for her relief. This attention was continued to the middle of November, without any other alteration than that herconvulfions increafed in their force; and every day, by thqre who vrere about her, was expedred to be the la{t; and which was an event, as the profpedc was fo un- promifing, muchto bewied for. Dreadfulhow- ever asher §ltuAtion was, ̂ e was Ilill alive: we were defirous therefore of omitting nothing,, that in the leaR might be expeEted to relieve her.

I HAD heretofore many times obServed, tha-t in paralytic limbs, the muScles of which had for a confider_ able time ceafed to be fubServient to the will of th¢ patient, I kad been able, by the means of eleEcricity, ta make any muScle I thought proper contradr itWelf, and aec as a muScle, without the patient's being able to controul it. I had feen in one in-Rance the good effedts of eleEcricity, in relloring to the hands and arms of a paralytic almoll their accuRomed iRrength, and voluntary motion; but thefe good effedrs, tlzKe

* He; >0U¢Z>, Llb. III. greatelt



[ I6 ]

greteR part of them at lea0, vrere only temporary, and the patient relapEed. 8ut I had never feen or known the effeEts of eleerricity in the contrary affec- tion, vix. rigidity of muScles I was very def1rous therefore of tryiIlg its effeds in this in{tance, and of {haking the rigid muCcles by eledricity; efipecially as I could have it done with Yery little pain, ahd no danger to the patient.

I juR now mentioned, tllat I was al)le in paralytic perSons to make any particular muScle at my will ex- crt its aXtion. This was to be effedced byJ mple eleAri/^ng only; butby modifying andalteringthe apparatus of the charged vial, I vwas able to do much more. It isnow feventeen years fince, that I diC- covered and communicated it to you ae that timeX that by means of the eleAric circuxut 1 could cauSe the elefl:ricity topervade any muScle, any number of muf- clesX or whatever part of the body I pleaSed, without affedting- the reIt with that unpleafing fenfation. Ma- ny experiments, relating to this matter, and which I laid before you, were printed in the forty fourth VG-

lume of the Philofophical TranEaEions.* But to return to our patient: We ordered her to

be eledrriSed about the middle of November. This was done esery day, or every other day for about twenty minutes, by J>nxply eleSrfng the muScles fub- fervient to the motion of the l-ower jawX her neck, and her arms. This at firS was very difficult to be at- chieved; as fhe was not capable of being placed in a chair to be eleEtriSed by herSelf, and as an afllkant could fcarce hold her on account of her being greatly ditlorted. It with difficulty, however, was done.

* Pag. 7X8 & feq. After



[ 17 ] Afiter about a fbrtnight, the contulElons left her,

mndher Ileeps were longer and more quiet<; btit tlle rigidity continlled the fame. After thisX -fuch parts of her body, as sarere tlwought expedieIlt) sfirere-ma(le part of tlle eleGric circuit, and were lllook by tla-e explofi1on of tte clvarged va1. T}lefe appllcationis were at firI} more particlllarly nzade to tlle Temporal and Mafleter muCcles (the parts firft aiedred) and to the muScles of the neck and arms; afterxstaIds tc) tllofe of her back, hips, thighs, and legs. Care was taken to moderate the {laocks in a manner, not to be too ivere; andfhe waseledriSed every fecond, and fometimes every r:hird day.

The fits, as I juflc now mentioned, and which were of the epileptic kind, left her in about a fortnight -from her being eledirifed, and have never fince returned, even in the nighte(t degree. In ahout a fortnight more her jaw was laofer, and the nwuScles of her neck and arms had a large fhare of moticn : and -t was very obServable, thav as her muScles iIlcreafexl in their power of motion, they increafied in their fize, and the patient in her irength. By the end of Ja- nuary, not to be too tedious in my narretion, by continuing the eleEtricity, every muScle ln her body was looSe, and fubServient to her will; and the could notonly Iland upright, but walk, andcan even run like other children of her age. With her ltrengthX Ihe has fo far recovered her ftelll and colour, that he; prefient appearance is that of fl reaSonably healthy child; and her breath has qllite loft its late o#*enfinte fmell. The only parts of^her body not quite fo looSe as the retfi, are the Tempral and Malietel muScles, which were the parts firll aiMedred by the difeafe.

YOL LIII. D This



r l8 ] This prevesuts her opening her mouth quite iX wide: as llle formerly could; but this hindrance is fo little ^s not at prefent to be taken notice Qfi unleE hinted at beXehand. She now goes to ldhool lives at largt and goes QUt every day svhen the weather is feaSon_ able; but the eledcrifing is Itill continued, tho' not bconRant}yandregularlyas befbre ThisIpropofe lhould be continued, untll the re£urn of warm wea ther. In the laR week this child was prdented to the wmmittee of the Foundling Hofipital, where i:Everal of the governors, who were apprifed of her cak, expreffied their amasement at her, Ibunexpeb ed, recovery

It is here to bc obServed} that, - except the muScles fiubServicntio the motion o£ hBr Jaw, non-e fo long continued their rigdity as thoSe d the back, dent minated " longifl lmi dorfi'> by anatomitls TheSe} wherl almoll all the other muScles of the body were look, remasning tenSe and hard; and, by pulling the-loins up towards the ffioulders} iXtnud the arch -of the lpine beire mentioned. \ As the patient. was 1b mu emaciated* thefe muSc}es might be traceel, on each Iide of the fpine) from sheir otagin to their inirtlon; and for a con{iderable tlme afier ffie was in other relpeEts 5tenng, iei felt hard liketwi{ledcords At-length) howenter? bydirefting tlac eleftricity through them, and the parts Ilear them, in a very liberal quantity, theX likewife gave waya and are now asr loofe as any other muScles of her biyv

IN Fopation as a matter-is extraordinary, the pro to fiupport its reality {hould be extraordinary. That excelint maxim, sc blil eemere credere>') ffiould

- nesct

4



[ 193 never be loll f1ght of in our inquiries; othersviSe no velty ar.d the love of the marvellolls will- be apt to miflead us. On- the otlacr lwand, the indulgence of an entrasragant: Pyrrhonifm may prove eqllallgP detrimenal in every endeavour to extend the Munds of kience. It may prevent the ginring due wQght to matters of real infbrmation, and hinder thar being made uSeil. For my own part, I nlould think it an indignity offered to the Royal Socicty, to lay befbre you any estrwr^dinary phrenomenon, which is fiupported only by a {light degr of evidenz. On the xntrary, when a number <3f concllrrent circun- I^ances tend to e{lablillh a fidt, we ought not in a certain degree to refilfe our aiEent to it} though fome- svhat out of the nommon courE Thus in the catO before us; when an unufial difeaSe of fieveral months xntinuance, and when the patient was fuppoSi:d to hie reduced to the Ialt extmtnity; when medicines a<nd applications of every-ltind, celebrated by the ableR writers and prititioners buh antient and mo dern, had been tried with 11ttle " no e, at leaR with regard to the rigidit; when dur:£ng a courfie of eldcti8ng no medsines -or applicatims of any kind were made ui of; when liSewiS, during this r*, the patient volded no worms, had nopurgz ings, erupilons on the in, or kindly impoRuma -tions, which might have been confidered as critical dikharges, and to have brought about the cure; when,, I liy, none of dsei t things happened, and tlle patient under eledtrifing ^only, and that at a very le Seain of the year, has bxn rdored to perfit health} I catlnot refilSe my afl*ent in believing it tffedted ky dle power of eleftricity. That fo adrivc

D 2 a principles



[ 20 :1 a principle, when properly direded tothe difeafed parts, Ihould have imXportant efiEl:s, no one ca doubt wlao has been in the leaI} converEant with ito Though at the fame time I confefs, well appriSed of the falutary effedrs of warm weather in reRoring a

more perfedc motion to torpid limbs, that had the eleEtriftng been begun in March, and contintled to the end of May, though attended -with the fame fuc- ceIi as in the prefent lnItan-ce, I could not have fup- preSed my doubts of ehe warm weather greatly con tributing thueto. Bu as this was done during the depthofwinter, andtfiatafeverelycoldoIle, noScrs ples, in my mind at leaR) can arife upors this head. s take the liberty however to lay the wile evidence before you} that every one may make from it fuch deduEtions as he thinks proper

Perhaps indeed fome may be of opinior thatg eezea the. cold weather contributed to cure this diforder But it is well known, that warmtll relaxes the ani- ual fibres, and that cold conIlipates and braces themt 1n tlle cafe before us, the muScles} comwSed of miX nute fibres, were as rigid and tenfe as they well could be? even in a difeafed and obftruEted Rate If col;d therefore contributed any thmg, it was to make this cafe; worfe And this is conformable to the opi- nlon of Aretaus$, who, among the cauSe:s of the difeaSeX reckons intenfe cold; atnd fayts, " that for zt this reafon the winter of all tlle feafans is nlot} pro- is duld:tive of this diiZaSe." He fubioinsa " thatwomen 84 are rnore fujeZt thereto than tnen, on account of is the coldnefs of their conilltation." Celfus + like-

* Aretasus, Lib. I. Cap. vi ot Cell;s, Lib\. II. Cap. i. Frigus modo nervorum dxfientionem,

AnOto rt%^r¢In tnirt: i'llzd twaosX hocTsr"s Grxcenominamr, w%



[ 21 3 wife exprelly aXerts} ehat cold fiotnetimes is the cauSe of it, and in another part of his excellent work fays, sc that the greateR caution {hould be uSed to defend ¢ the patient from cold; and thae therefore the fire

in his room lBould be conRant." He moreover

recommends warm bathing both in water and oil, as conducive to the cure of the difeafee To thefe may be added the fentiments of Calius + Aurelianus, who confiders that cold is frequently the cauSe of this difeafe. He recotnmerlds various kinds of ararm external applications; fuch as warm bathing, rubbing the affbflced pars with warm oil, the application of wartn cataplaEms, bags of heated bran, or linfeed. With Celfus, this author recommends, that attention be given to the warnlth of the patient's chamber. How far therefore, for the reafons and authorities before-mentioned, cold weather could probably af- r in the cure of the cafe before us, need not in my opinion be infiRed upon.

AND now, Gentlemen, permit me to make a few obServationsuponthedifeafeitWelf, which, atleallin thedegreeof thecafe before you, isaveryrareone in temperate climates. In warmer collntries, and-t eEpecially between ehe tropics, it is too often Seen. It was well known to the ancients. Hippocrates § calls it Ter^wos, and fays, that thofe who have it fe- verelys die on the fourth day; if they furvive that day, they recover. He makes farther nlention of it in other parts of his workst; more particularly in his book Ile4 Nov'wX where he defcribes botll the

t De Morbis Acutiss Llb. IIf. Cap. vi. viii. § Aphorifim, Lib. V. SeEt. vi. * Vide Lib. lHfgs Xg¢szhC>-nEe r> £>1as n*Qw & aIibi.

tetanos



r :s 3 os and Cat.Sgs. II1 -this part of his worky inttead of the itlrtla) lae tnentions once, and repeats itt that if tlley live bvyosld the fburtcenth day, they recover. Lett if 11a3uld sIppe2rX that the fither of the m-etiocal art fecms to coneradiEt himIblf; it may not be inzn:oper to retnark, that vwhen he fiys, that the l;,>ess luortal itl a rery fEw days, hemoi} generally means thofe sarhich are fymptomatic} and are attelzdaalt upon smunds, luxations, and bruiXt, filch as the three in{tances Ineniioned in his EpidEmtAS

Thof: affeded sv;th this di*afe, mentioned by Hilp- pocrates in his book rl§D KO¢¢/Y, are apdy id to ariIE inl wounds. TheX were foon mortal. But where thefe difeaSes took their rife from other caufes; they werelefi violent continued lon$er, and the expeEtation of recovery was greater. In his 60ok therefore, ITseo r srxrc*SxY, wlen treating of thc OpiSho2Zss, attendant upon a fever, iraflamrnation of the throat, or other internal dibrders, he fiys, iat if they liere beyorl-d the fortieth day, they reen

Aretaus *, under the fame appellation with Hip pocrats, has given us an excellent hiRory and rew marks upon this diiafe, as well as upon the tonos, and Et,pros, which arc nearly related to it; or, to Ipeak more properly, the fime diiZalE affedr- ing diffierent muiles, and throwing the body into diffirent kinds of dillortionJ Celfus + has mendoned and defcribed this difeaSe, b which no name wAs afligned by-his countrymen} and has called it " Q@- zc dam nervorum rigor." Tho' this excellent authqr reckons it among the difeaSes of e neckX the part$

* Morb. Acut Lib. I. Cap. vi. t Li. IV. Cip. iii. iirlt



[ 23 ] firl affiflred by k are the muScles fubServient to the ffiotions of the lower jaw, from- which it is ufually, if the diSeafe continuesX propagated to thofe of dle neck. Catius * Aurelianus has, as it is fuppofed from Soranus, defcribed it, and handed down to us fuch methods of cure, as had been found in his time moR fuccefsful.

Pliny § mentions the Tetanus in many parts of his Natural Hiilory He forbids the uSe of wine to thoSe who laboureither under th}s difeaSe, or the OpiAho- tonus. He recommends in different parts of his wsrk,, as internal remedies, caRor, hellebore 11) the alhes of the fig-tree} pediculi marini, and pepper He ad- vifes warm baths,, with the nitre of the ancients dir folved in them; and diredrs the patwnt at other times to be rubbed widl the coagulum fbllnd in the Ilo mach of a calf, or with the juige of Peucedanum, or hogs-fennel. This, it is to be prefumed, was the moflcpneral method of treating thefie difeafes, in the age wheran this author wrote.

This difeaSe is Sequent in Greece, Iealy, and in the warmerparts of Europe, where its efEed£s are feverely felt. tBontiassa who refided longin the EsI} ludies, has briefly defcribed it; which, though he fays it is

* Morb. Acut. Lib. III. Cap. vi. § Plinii HiR. Nat Lik. XXVI. XXXt XXX n. 11 Ibid. Lib. XXV. The hellebore made uSe of, was to be prev

pared in (at that time) atewly diScovered manner, which was to prevent the e¢des of its acrimeny. Thls was, by putting the hellebore between radiffies fplit, and ehen tied together, including ''the he'Ilebore; which, by being macerated in this mannerE>r gbout feven hours, was fuppofEd to become more mild sn its ope- ratson.

t Bonti; Meth. Medendia Cap i*. D Spafms. rare



] ^

24 J rare ln Holland} maar be reckoned endenlic in India He feems not to llas?e known what had been written by his predeceXors upon this i:ulsed. Hel takes notice} that fometimes men fieized with it becatne dih

. * . ... o ztus rlgld as t atues. An ad.mirab3e account of this diSeafe was a few

years fince communicated to the public ly Dr. Lsonel Chalnuers + of South Carolina, wherG it is very frc quent, efipecially among the negroes. And I am informed by a learned gentleman of undoubted credit, that in our military operations between the tropics ill America, great numbers vf our people, particularly of thoSe who were wounded, died- with locked ]aws.

In England we generally to thls difeafe give the nameofthelockedXaw; butthat, letitarifefromwhat cauId it nlav, is only one fytnptom of it If it continues, as in the cafe before you, the occaf1on of this paper it propagates its rigidity to the neck, breaIt, and then to the other parts of the body.

It is feldom Seen here that the Tetanus is an original difeafev It is generally fgmptomaticX and the confequence of fonze other diforder. It frequently is fubSequent to wounds and bruifes of the nerves and tendons. I have known it arife to a certain degree from the fudden checking of an eruption upon the Ikin. Iknew a tetnporary OptIlhotonus gcafioned by the too fudden loIi of a large quantity of blood. To there permit me to add, tbatthe Tetanus of the Temporal and Maffieter snuScles conRantly attended -thoSe whom I have known to have been accidentally

) Idedical ObServawtions, Yol I, pag. 87. poifoned



[ 25 ] poifoned by taking the Oattl8the afuaft'rv J X¢co tiroJX roaante of Lobel; and of which, two commllnica_ tions of mine occur in the Pllilofophical Tranf- aAions

I muR llere remark} that in the true Tetanus,, the arms, when rigid, are Araight, and extended along the trunk; the legs and thighs are likewife firaight; but thecafe before you, in fome degree} palotook of the Opifthotonus} efipecially in the lower parts; as tbe fpine was remarkably curved, and as the legs were pulled up towards tlle thighs

The Tetanus I now lay before you, was an origt_ nal difeafe; as there had been no round, no eruption fupprefl*ed, nor other cauSes which we imaginedt could occaf1on it A caSe of a fimilar kinds as an original difeaIC occurs in Dr. $ Storckss Biennuum Meizvum. And the Emprolihotonus, mentioned by the ingenious Dr. Macaulay, in thc fecond volume of the Medical ObEervationss lately publiShed, tSeems to have been likewife all original diSeafe, and not a fytnptom of any other. As the caSe I now commu- nicate is a very flnglllar one, at leaR in Great Bri- -tain, and the treatment of it not leSs flngular) thollgh -attended with all pofl lble fuccefs, I had rea:ldn to hope sthat you would not be difipleafed eo have it laid be- bre you, in a manner fornewhat circumRantial. I am firmly of opinion, if the epilepfy had left this pat-ent, and life had contlnued, that {he wouldharre remained a moR miferably helplefs obued, and as confirmed a cripple as can be imagined

At preSent the patient is well; but if, contrary to

* Part I Pag. 6. E expeftation



[ 26 ] expedvation, lhe ffiould relapSe, or any thing lBould occur in her cafe worthy your notice, I Ihall not fail to acquaint you with it; an(l am, with the utmoI} regard,

Gentlemen,

Your moR obedient humble Servant,

William Watforl.

Lincoln'sInnFields, gFeb.X763.

P. S. The patient continues well, her jaw is as loofe as ever. The eleArifinghas been diScontinlled above a month; and Che is in every reEpeEt: perfeEcly recovered.

27 hIarch 1763.

JIlly 8, 1763.

The patient is perfeEcly well, and there remain not the leafi indications of her having been difeafed

W. W.

VII. Xn



Documents

Observations upon the Effects of Electricity Applied to a Tetanus, or Muscular Rigidity, of Four Months Continuance. In a Letter to the Royal Society. By William Watson, M. D. F. R