Tetanic n. (Physiol. & Med.) A substance (notably nux vomica, strychnine, and brucine) which, either as a remedy or a poison, acts primarily on the spinal cord, and which, when taken in comparatively large quantity, produces tetanic spasms or convulsions.
... up to this time the boy seemed listless, did not care to sit up, and seemed from some cause to be in more or less pain, with his eyes turned to the left. The parents dreaded that the child, their only one, would turn out idiotic. The spasmodic spells alluded to were of a tetanic nature, the body being thrown backward; his head and eyes continued to be turned to the left, and nothing could attract the child's attention. The boy cried night and day, but he was in good flesh, had ... — History of Circumcision from the Earliest Times to the Present - Moral and Physical Reasons for its Performance • Peter Charles Remondino
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