A system of medicine, by many writers; . )alni, tho thuiul) cither Hexed or upper liml> nuiy be in this condition while the other is only slightlystiiT, and still capable of being used in what appeai-s to Ije partlyvoluntary movement. Fine tremors of the upper limits are sometimesobserved. AVe have only once seen the hand in the tetany position ; in thatcase the fingers were afterwards flexed, and finally the claw-hand wasobserved before death. In moderate spasm of the lower limbs all the joints may Ije flexed, Ijut. Fig. 29.—Head-retraction, marked oi^isthotonos, rigid extensi
A system of medicine, by many writers; . )alni, tho thuiul) cither Hexed or upper liml> nuiy be in this condition while the other is only slightlystiiT, and still capable of being used in what appeai-s to Ije partlyvoluntary movement. Fine tremors of the upper limits are sometimesobserved. AVe have only once seen the hand in the tetany position ; in thatcase the fingers were afterwards flexed, and finally the claw-hand wasobserved before death. In moderate spasm of the lower limbs all the joints may Ije flexed, Ijut. Fig. 29.—Head-retraction, marked oi^isthotonos, rigid extension of limbs, superpronation ( 44). in more extreme spasm the whole limb is rigidly extended, the heelsdrawn up, and the foot inverted. When the tonic spasm of the spinalmuscles or of the limbs is marked, periodical exacerbations of the spasm-are not uncommon, in which the back becomes more arched, the limbsmore stiff, and sometimes also the chest rigid and the jaws closed, re-minding the observer strongly of the phenomena of tetanus. And inother cases in which the tonic spasm is not permanent, there are recurring fits of tonic spasm in which the limbs and back become rigid, andsometimes (but not always) the head becomes more retracted. There are thus, in posterior-basic meningitis, three characteristic 526 SYSTEM OF MEDICINE forms of tonic spasm to be explained—retraction of the head, opisthotonos,extensor or flexor spasm of the limbs. With regard to these, three pointsshould be noticed : first, that head-retraction
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