To the Editor:
—Recent articles and communications in The Journal on the contagion or microbe of tetanus, and its relation to the offal of animals, have added interest, in view of the occurrence of a case of tetanus which, during the week past, has in this city reached a fatal termination. The victim was a woman of advanced age, but of notably vigorous health. About two weeks previous to her death she had occasion to step into a poultry coop or enclosure, when a nail, concealed by dirt and offal of the poultry, penetrated the plantar surface of the instep. In a few days stiffness of the cervical tissues appeared, with the result stated. As many medical men in a lifetime of active practice fail to meet a case of this kind, so rare is the disease outside of hospitals, albeit rusty nail wounds of the feet are sufficiently frequent,