in medicine, a convulsion.

A spasm, according to Hoffman, may be universal or particular, salutary or morbidous. An universal spasm happens if the whole vascular genus, chiefly the heart and arteries, as also the fibres of the system, are affected, and there is a preternatural constriction therein, whereby the systole and diafbole are increased, and the progress of the blood accelerated; this constitutes a fever, whereof a frequent pulse is the most certain sign. See Medicine.