A treatise on tetanus : being the essay for which the Jacksonian Prize for the year 1834 was awarded by the Royal College of Surgeons in London / by Thomas Blizard Curling.

  • Curling, Thomas Blizard, 1811-1888.
Date:
1837
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on tetanus : being the essay for which the Jacksonian Prize for the year 1834 was awarded by the Royal College of Surgeons in London / by Thomas Blizard Curling. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    columns devoted to them must have been exceedingly imperfect. It will be seen that the cases composing this table are repeatedly alluded to in illustration of various phenomena, by which means what is stated is authenticated, and an opportunity afforded for further reference. This appeared the most convenient way of embodying in the essay the principal and most interesting matter derivable from so large a collection of cases, without the incum- brance of a voluminous extract of particulars. It has been often lamented that cases only of successful practice are usually selected for publication, on which' account great difficulty is experienced in obtaining a satisfactory estimate of the average fatality of diseases, and of the value of remedies. The observation applies with much force and justice to reports of cases of Tetanus. One hundred and twenty-eight examples have been taken indiscriminately from various sources; and although it is well known that by far the greater proportion of the subjects of this disease never recover, yet fifty-eight, or nearly one-half of them, are instances of cure. The inducements to report individual cases are generally to give publicity to remedies that have been found efficacious, and more rarely to put on record an account of unusual and remarkable phenomena, or interesting pathological appearances. It is evident, therefore, that an accurate and fair estimate of the actual rate of mortality in Tetanus, and of the value of the various means that have been employed in the treat- ment of it, cannot be obtained from this table. It affords,however, much useful information respecting the circumstances under which recovery takes place, the comparative value of different remedies, and other important particulars.