The nurse can elicit Trousseau's sign by occluding the brachial or radial artery. Hand and finger spasms that occur during occlusion indicate Trousseau's sign and suggest hypocalcemia.
He then seated himself in the center of the cavern, grasping his remaining pistol with a hand convulsively clenched, while his contracted and frowning eye announced the sullen desperation of his purpose.
Not a word escaped him, though his hand played convulsively with the handle of his knife, while his lowering eyes scanned the whole party, as if they sought an object suited to the first burst of his vengeance.