Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1901-06-21
DEADLY LOCKJAW GERM
ODD WAYS IN WHICH TENANUS MAY
ENTER THE SYSTEM.


The lockiaw bacillus is formid-
able beast. 1t is inseparable from
dirt. Dirty hands. lurking bacillus. a
scratch or cut-and the mischief is
done, declares a writer in the New
York Sun.
The unenlightened public persists in
associating all lockiaw with rusty
nails, and quite refuses to accept the
bacillus that was formally introduced
in 1885. AS a matter of fact, the
nails only function is the making of
a wound through which the poison
can enter the system. and an oyster
shell or a toy pistol can serve the
purpose of the bacillus quite as well
as a nail.
Why this bacillus should be espe-
cially prevalent in certain localities
scientists do not explain. but the fact
remains. The Shrewsbury river is
happy hunting ground for the beast,
and clam shell out of the mud down
there, may inflict a scratch that will
mean death. All Long Island mud is
full of the bacillus. and the fact that
Long Island children live to grow up
would speak volumes for their clean
liness, were it not that exposure to
sunlight kills the bacillus immediate
ly and SO the sun fights for the pres
ervation of the Long Island species.
New York itself isn't inhospitable to
the tetanus bacillus. In 1899 there
were 80 deaths from lockiaw in New
York City and its vicinity, many of
the cases being due to accidental
wounds made by toy pistols on the
Fourth of July. The pistol wounds in
themselves would not have bothered
the small boys more than on any
other Fourth. Probably there were no
more of the wounds than there usually
are on that glorious day; but. un-
luckily for the owners of the pistols,
lockjaw bacilli were out in tremen-
dous numbers that season and seized
the opportunity offered by the pistol
wounds. No bay can celebrate the Dec
laration of independence properly
and keep his hands clear. so there
was no escaping the lurking fee.
Last year tW6 cases Of lockiaw in
this city were due to abrasions on the
head, caused by diving in shallow
water. The diver in each case struck
his head against simething sharp on
the river bottom, and the bacillus in
the mud entered through the cut,
causing lockiaw within few hours.
A wound upon the face or head. IL
affected by the bacillus. will be more
dangerous than a wound upon the foot
or hand The poisoning develops
more rapidly and is more violent in
form. A large majority of lockjaw
cases originate in the feet or hands
of the sufferers because those parts
Of the body are most exposed.
In warm climates the disease is
more common than in colder locali-
ties, not because the germ revels in
heat, but because the feet are less
heavily shod in warm countries and
so are more liable to injury.
For the same reason in the south,
more Negroes than Caucasians have
lockjaw. The Negro makes practice
of going barefoot and his feet are fire..
quently scratched or cut. In one re-
cent mild case of tetanus poison,
NduoCu " sbCPpAh9 uCoh he'iis "a
New York doctor analyzed leather
scrapings taken from the shoe. around
the point of incision. and found them
full of tetanus bacilli which had been
rubbed from the nail in its passage
through the thick leather. Had the
patients foot been bare. the germs
would have entered the wound.
Another New York doctor tells of
several cases of lockiaw which he has
treated, while at his summer home,
and which have been caused by the
introduction of the tetanus bacillus
through wounds made by the horns of
catfish.
II have known of tetanus poisoning
from cuts made by fish fins and from
lobster claws and from oyster or clam
she'll" said the doctor to Sun report
er, "and I'd advise any one to suck
wound like that vigorously, the instant
it is made. The poison isn't ordinarily
on the fish or the shell, but it is on the
dirty hands. and fisherman is pretty
likely to have dirty hands and to get
occasional scratches in handling fish"
The mosquito carries the tetanus
bacillus along with other germs. and
in localities where the bacillus is
plentiful cases of lockiaw for which
no cause could at first be found have
been traced to mosquito bites.
In violent cases OF locktaw the poi
son toxine may develop and produce
alarming symptoms within a few
, hours after the entrance Of the bacil-
lus into the blood, but in most cases
the development is slow at the outset
The trouble shows first in n soreness
and stiffness of the side neck muscles,
and gradually slight spasms of the
muscles appear.
These sDasms increase in violence,
and extend to the muscles at the back
of the neck. and then to the entire
spine and trunk. The abdominal and
chest muscles become rigid. and the
spine is ordinarily curved. The face
takes on grimaces. with the forehead