454 HEALTH AND DISEASE 



observed that after a description in detail of the structure and functions of 

 the heart and large vessels, he dismisses the pathology of the organ in a 

 short paragraph. " I have seen ", he says, " the hearts of horses frequently 

 opened; sometimes there happens, as in the human body, collections of 

 matter within the pericardium. I have seen poUipusses in the great 

 vessels, sometimes a mass of slippery fat, especially within the left ventricle 

 of horses that have died suddenly, and sometimes the heart itself is preter- 

 naturally large." 



Since the time of Mr. William Gibson, surgeon, knowledge has ad- 

 vanced, but even at the present day the subject of disease of the heart and 

 large vessels is dealt with by veterinary writers in a very cursory manner. 



In the last edition of Mayhew's work on the horse, edited by Mr. James 

 Irvine Lupton, it is remarked that disease of the heart is characterized by 

 various names in scientific books, as carditis, pericarditis, hydrops-pericardii, 

 inflammation of the pericardium, &c. All such conditions, the writer 

 observes, in the horse were discovered by examination instituted after 

 death, when, unfortunately, all opportunity of observing symptoms had 

 ceased. Veterinary science cannot distinguish one state from another 

 while life exists. May hew goes on to state that " diseases of the heart in 

 horses are incurable", and suggests that it is possibly on that account 

 that "apparently little attention has been paid to the diagnosis and 

 treatment of them". Eemarking on the absence of characteristic symp- 

 toms, he adds that auscultation aff'ords the surest means of detection. 

 Any unusual sound, he says, being audible, the examiner may conclude 

 that the heart is diseased. In further desci^iption of symptoms it is stated 

 that " the visible signs are sometimes sufficiently emphatic to admit of no 

 doubt"; the eye is expressive of constant anguish, the countenance is 

 haggard, the pulse is feeble and irregular, and the heart-throbs are visible 

 and frequent; they are to be seen as plainly on the right side as on the 

 left. Eegurgitation within the jugular, veins is nearly always excessive, 

 the blood often reaching almost to the jaw." 



The difi'erence between the estimated importance of heart-disease in 

 man and the lower animals is emphasized by Mayhew, and indeed is urged 

 in explanation of the comparative indifference with which these diseases 

 have been regarded by the veterinary surgeon. The veterinarian is seldom 

 called upon to treat heart-disease, and has not the same experience of dis- 

 eases affecting this organ as has the physician, for the reason that man, even 

 when suffering from an incurable ailment, must be treated, but the horse 

 in a similar state is usually sent to the knacker; consequently it is from 

 human medicine that the most valuable information has been received. 

 These remarks are strictly correct, and fairly estimate the circumstances 



