Knowledge of the unusual form of tetanus known as cephalic tetanus and of the mechanism of the facial paralysis associated with this disease is still so imperfect that the report of an isolated case seems warranted in an attempt to ascertain the cause of the condition.
The literature on tetanus is profuse. It has been reviewed recently by Abel and his associates.1 The first description of the cephalic form of the disease is usually ascribed to Rose2 (in 1869), and the condition has been reported in the literature not infrequently during the past forty years, although the total number of cases is not great. Brown3 in 1912 found 94 cases recorded up to that time, and a moderate number have been reported since. In spite of these clinical studies no definite conclusion has been reached as to the mechanism of the facial paralysis. The syndrome is rare