118 DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, GOATS, ETC. 



mations and in local diseases of the heart the pulse rate is increased. 

 If the rate is greater than 100 or 110 to the minute the outlook for 

 recovery is not good. 



Other variations of the pulse are known as infrequent pulse, 

 which means that the number of pulsations in a given time is less 

 than normal. The irregular or the intermittent pulse is when the 

 pulsations do not follow in regular order. The large pulse and the 

 small pulse refer to the volume of the pulse, which may be larger or 

 smaller than usual. The strong pulse and the feeble pulse refer to 

 the strength or weakness of the pulsation. The pulse is said to be 

 hard when the vessel feels hard and incompressible. The soft pulse 

 is the reverse of the hard one. By dicrotic pulse is meant that kind 

 of pulsation which makes each beat seem double, and therefore it is 

 generally called the double pulse. 



The venous or jugular pulse is the pulsation so frequently ob- 

 served in the jugular vein of cattle. It is particularly noticeable 

 while they are ruminating chewing the cud. It is not always as- 

 sociated with disease, but may be a symptom of some disease of the 

 heart; in such cases the jugular pulse is continuous. 



The location selected for feeling the pulse in cattle is where the 

 submaxillary artery winds around the lower jaw bones, just at the 

 lower edge of the flat muscle on the side of the cheek ; or, if the cow 

 is lying down, the metacarpal artery on the back part of the fore 

 fetlock is very convenient for the purpose. 



The Examination of the Heart. Corresponding with the beats 

 of the heart two sounds are emitted, which are of a definite type in 

 healthy animals. The first is produced by the contraction of the 

 heart and the flow of blood out of it ; the second is caused by the re- 

 bound of blood in the aorta and the closure of the valves that pre- 

 vent it from flowing backward into the heart, whence it came. The 

 first sound is the longer and. louder of the two, though of low pitch. 

 The second sound is sharper and shorter, and is not always easy to 

 hear in cattle. There is a brief interval between them. 



To appreciate these sounds, the ear is placed against the left side 

 of the chest, a little above the point where the elbow rests when the 

 animal is standing in a natural position and about opposite the sixth 

 rib. The heart sounds are both reduced in intensity when the animal 

 is weak or when the heart is forced away from the chest wall by col- 

 lections of fluid or by tubercular or other growths. Nonrhythmical 

 heart sound is often caused by pericarditis or 'by disease of the valves. 

 It may also be due to overfilling of the heart upon the right side, as 

 occurs in severe congestion of the lungs and in some febrile diseases. 



In pericarditis scraping, rubbing, or splashing sounds may be 

 heard, entirely apart from the two normal sounds above described. 



The impulse of the heart, as felt by placing the hand against 

 the chest, is of some consequence in arriving at a conclusion in re- 

 spect to disease of the heart; but it must be remembered that the im- 

 pulse may be very much increased by diseases other than those of the 

 heart, as, for example, inflammation of various organs, severe pains, 

 etc. The impulse may also be increased (when disease does not ex- 



