148 DISEASES OF SWINE 



This tendency to early decomposition can be noted even before the 

 body is opened. The carcass always shows a rapid bloating, and 

 when the abdomen is opened, even though the animal be dead but 

 a few hours, there is usually an escape of very foul-smelling gas. 



LESIONS IN THORACIC CAVITY 



It is well now to open the thoracic cavity and examine the 

 organs therein for changes produced by the disease. There are 

 two or three ways of opening the thorax, any one of which may 

 be followed. The thorax is a sort of bony box, formed by the ribs, 

 breast-bone, or sternum, and spinal column. In young pigs and 

 small shoats a sharp knife will cut through the ribs readily about 

 2 inches at either side of the breast-bone where the bony and car- 

 tilage portions unite. In older animals this is not so easily done, 

 and it is usually better to spht down the middle of the breast-bone 

 or use a small bone saw to saw the ribs about 6 inches on either 

 side of the sternum. In this manner a window-like piece of meat 

 and bone is removed and the underlying organs exposed. The 

 most important viscera in this part of the body are the lungs and 

 the heart. We will examine the heart first and then the lungs. 



Lesions in the Heart. — When the heart is removed, it will 

 usually be found to be somewhat softer and more flabby than 

 normal, and close inspection will show that it is somewhat ligher 

 in color, due to the degeneration of the muscle by the poisons of 

 the disease. 



At the upper margin of the heart we find two small triangular 

 flaps, resembling very much the ears of a dog. These normally 

 have a clear, shiny surface, but in severe cases of cholera we find 

 these auricular flaps, or auricular appendices, as they are properly 

 designated, studded with small dark-red hemorrhagic spots, 

 similar to those which we found in the skin and in the kidney. 

 These hemorrhages in the heart are not present in a very large per- 

 centage of cases, but when present are decidedly characteristic. 



When we cut into the heart we find that the muscle does not 

 offer as much resistance to the knife as ordinarily it should, and 

 the inner lining of the heart is dull in color instead of the normal 

 bright, shiny appearance. It is not unusual to find the cavities 

 of the heart filled with large blood-clots, especially the right side, 



