"The muscles are as hard as a board," I answered. "Quite so.  They are in a state of extreme contraction, far exceeding the usual rigor mortis.  Coupled with this distortion of the face, the Hippocratic smile, as the old writers called it, what conclusion would it suggest to your mind?" "Death from some powerful vegetable alkaloid," I answered, "some strychnine-like substance which would produce tetanus." --A Conversation Between Holmes and Watson regarding poor Bartholomew Sholto The Sign of Four   Learn More About the Alkaloids