ENDOCARDITIS. 395 



principally of murmurs : soft murmurs due to insufficiency of the 

 auriculo-ventricular valves, heard during systole, particularly opposite 

 the point of the heart where the cardiac shock is most clearly felt. This 

 fact differentiates them from the murmurs of chronic endocarditis, 

 which are usually due to aortic contraction, and are accompanied by a 

 systolic sound heard at the base of the heart, more in advance and at 

 a higher point than those now under consideration. 



These murmurs or soutiles furthermore vary in intensity and in 

 character, according to whether the endocarditis results from post- 

 partum infection, pytemic disease, or some other cause. 



Diagnosis. The diagnosis of endocarditis has not yet been the 

 object of really careful study in bovine pathology, but there is no doubt 

 that it can often be detected by patient examination. 



Prognosis. The prognosis is very grave, and patients may die in 

 a few days. 



Treatment comprises vigorous local stimulation over the cardiac 

 area, the administration of antithermic and antiseptic drugs, such as 

 salicylate of soda, or of digitalis, sparteine or other cardiac tonics. 



Pathologists have also described, chiefly as post-mortem curiosities 

 of interest to pathological anatomists, various diseases and lesions due 

 to insufficiency or contraction of the auriculo-ventricular, aortic, and 

 j)ulmonary openings, lesions due to infectious myocarditis, to the pre- 

 sence of parasites and to other causes. 



The symptoms of these various diseases or lesions in bovine 

 animals are still too imperfectly understood to permit of more than 

 a very limited description. 



In the present state of our knowledge, diagnosis would always be 

 of an uncertain character, and for this reason we do not propose to 

 deal with them at present. 



