Most observers who have written on the subject of infantile tetany connect the cause with a disturbance of the calcium metabolism, the greater number believing it to be due to a deficiency of calcium in the tissues. The intimate association of rickets and tetany, in the former of which there is a definite disturbance of calcium, has been sufficient to suggest to many that the same salt is probably instrumental in the causation of tetany. The favorable influence of calcium on tetany, which will be discussed subsequently, gives weight to the view that a deficiency of calcium may play a part in the production of tetany.
Kassowitz1 and his adherents have insisted that tetany is just a symptom of rickets. From extensive clinical, and a few metabolism, observations, we are inclined to regard this statement as correct. We have not yet seen a case of tetany that did not