124 DADD'S VETERINARY MEDICINE AND SURGERY. 



otl.er diseases of the serous membranes; yet, fortunately for the 

 patient as well as the practitioner, it does not require any special 

 treatment other than that laid down for pleurisy and disease of 

 other serous membranes. 



Causes. — The causes of pericarditis are the same as those which 

 are said to be operative in the production of pleurisy and disease 

 in the serous membrane, viz. : sudden impressions of cold upon 

 the external surface of the body; injuries; overtasking the pow- 

 ers of the animal by laborious and rapid work. Sometimes 

 foreign bodies, such as pins and needles, have been found within 

 the pericardium, which must have been taken into the stomach 

 with the food, and have worked their way so as to penetrate the 

 pericardium and heart. Such cases almost always prove fatal. 



Symptoms. — The general symptoms of the disease are anxiety, 

 shivering, coldness of the skin and mouth, loss of appetite ; the 

 jugular veins are congested, and they pulsate like an artery ; there 

 is a sort of tinkling or metallic sound, when the ear is applied to 

 the chest and lower part of the neck. In the latter stages the 

 respiratory murmur becomes very indistinct, and there is a sort 

 of double expiration, and the ribs become contorted, the same as 

 in dropsy of the chest. 



Treatment. — The heat of the external surface of the body must 

 be restored, and kept uniform by means of leggings and body 

 clothing. Both sides of the chest are to be briskly rubbed, two or 

 three times daily, with hot vinegar and strong mustard. One 

 drachm of iodide of potass, dissolved in five ounces of warm water, 

 should be given every four hours ; hut, should the case be seen, 

 and the true nature of the malady discovered in its early stages, 

 omit the iodide of potass, and substitute two fluid drachms of tinc- 

 1 tire of gelseminum. Two or three doses, at intervals of four hours, 

 will suffice ; then resort to the iodide of potass, or substitute for 

 the same four drachms of chlorate of potass. So soon as the animal 

 appears to improve, discontinue the above-named medicine, and 

 give tonics. Four drachms of fluid extract of golden seal, twice 

 daily, wi suffice. 



A fatal case of pure pericarditis is related by Mr. Woodgee, 

 V. S., in the London " Veterinarian." The autopsy revealed a 

 healthy state of the lungs and pleura ; yet the pericardium con- 

 tained about three quarts of serum, highly colored. The walls of 

 the pericardium were considerably thickened, and studded with 



