1040 Pericarditis. 



Jowett observed a pneumo-pericarditis which occurred in turkeys in epizootic 

 extension and was characterized by a copious fibrinous exudation ; a bacillus bipolaris 

 was found, both in the pericardial exudate and in the blood; chickens and pigeons 

 which were kept in the same place remained healthy, but it was possible to infect 

 them artificially. In Jowett "s opinion the disease is a different affection from 

 chicken cholera. 



The point of entrance of the microorganisms may either 

 be in an injury of the thorax, or more frequently the virus 

 reaches the pericardium by way of the blood and lymph streams. 

 The infection is most easily explained when traumatic influences 

 affect the pericardium, and when pyogenic or putrefactive 

 bacteria enter simultaneously with the injuring object or pass 

 in subsequently through the opening. Penetrating injuries of 

 the heart region are rather rare as a whole, and likewise rarely 

 an effect of contusions of the praecordia is exerted without 

 penetration of the wall of the thorax, so that bacteria which 

 have entered the blood in another manner are carried to the 

 pericardium and then proliferate in the contused tissue. 



Those injuries of the pericardium are of greater frequency 

 and of the highest importance in which foreign bodies have 

 entered the pericardium from neighboring organs (Pericarditis 

 traumatica). Pericarditis of such an origin occurs frequently 

 in cattle, less often in goats and sheep and only exceptionally 

 in the other animals. In a case observed by Henniges in a 

 horse a needle, probably from the esophagus, entered the 

 pericardium; in a case of Lewin's, from the stomach or 

 duodenum; in a hog a needle came from an unknown part of 

 the body (Teetz), or from the stomach (Nietschke), while in 

 a dog seen by Petit the foreign body (needle) had probably 

 passed with the blood of the posterior vena cava into the 

 heart and had partially advanced into the pericardium after 

 perforating the wall of the heart. In ruminants foreign bodies 

 which have been swallowed usually pass from the second 

 stomach toward the pericardium (Vol. II). The anterior 

 surface of the reticulum is separated from the pericardium only 

 by the thin diaphrag-m which is easily perforated even by com- 

 paratively short foreign bodies. In this respect needles are 

 most dangerous because, after having perforated the mucosa 

 of the reticulum they are constantly pushed farther by the 

 repeated contractions of the muscles of the reticulum until the 

 points reach the diaphragm ; then the contractions of the latter 

 aid in pushing the needles against the pericardium and in 

 finally entering it. Of similar importance are other rigid 

 bodies which are more or less pointed at both ends, especially 

 thin wire (according to Collas parts of the wire which has 

 latterly been used for packing pressed hay are responsible 

 relatively often), nails, knife blades, etc. Together with the 

 foreign bodies bacteria usually enter the pericardium as a 

 matter of course. 



The intermediation of infection by the blood- and lymph- 

 streams must be assumed in those cases in which the affection 



