662 SPOKADIC DISEASES. 



are a loud gurgling cardiac sound and eructation of gases. 

 The gurgling sound is supposed to arise from the greater con- 

 sistency of the pericardial effusion, and its admixture with 

 various gases. The eructations are supposed to arise from the 

 communication between the pericardium and stomach, allowing 

 the gas formed in the former to pass into the latter, and thence 

 into the mouth. If these latter symptoms were constant, their 

 importance and value would be beyond doubt. I have, however, 

 seen cases in which neither eructations, gurglings, nor splash- 

 ing were detectable, and in 1857 I reported two cases in the 

 Veterinarian, in which absence of all cardiac sounds was men- 

 tioned, this absence of sound being ascribed by me at the time 

 to the thickness and plasticity of the exudate rendering all 

 sounds inaudible. 



In some instances there is a painful cough and disturbance of 

 the respiratory movements ; in other cases cough is absent, and 

 the respiratory movements unaffected, or even slower than 

 natural. The post mortem examination tends to prove that the 

 pericardial exudations are of varying ages, and that the animal 

 has suffered from repeated attacks of pericarditis. This conclu- 

 sion is arrived at by the fact that two or three, or even four layers 

 of exudation, more or less separable one from the other, are 

 found ; the older exudate presenting the appearance of a corneous 

 change, being in consistence similar to cartilage, and not easily 

 cut with a knife ; then another layer of exudation of apparently 

 more recent origin ; then another layer or two of more recent 

 origin still, all being more or less tinged with the chemically 

 altered metal. In some instaiices the pericardial surfaces are 

 intimately adherent one to another ; in others they are here and 

 there connected loosely by bands of lymph, separated from each 

 other by a turbid fluid, whilst in others the exudate is prevented 

 from becoming adherent by the interposition of fluid. It is, 

 however, more or less vascular, and gradually assumes the 

 appearance of a villous membrane. 



Unless the foreign body can be removed as in Mr. Walker's 

 cases, it is obvious that no treatment can be suggested for this 

 form of pericarditis, and it is advisable to make the best of the 

 animal before emaciation renders it worthless. For the pre- 

 vention of this, attendants on cattle should be enjoined to see that 

 the food be free from any of the above-named foreign bodies. 

 When cattle are attended by females the danger is greater from 

 the pins, &c. worn in the dress becoming mixed with the food. 



