MORBID ANATOMY 199 



greasy, tarry appearance and of a sickish, foetid odor issues 

 from them when they are squeezed. The fibres of the muscles 

 show extremely varied degenerative changes. The gases that 

 are present in the muscles are inflammable and burn with a 

 bluish flame on being ignited. They are stated to have but 

 little odor, on which account it is assumed that they consist of 

 carburetted hydrogen. They are also said to contain carbonic 

 acid but no oxygen. An exact chemical analysis of these 

 gases seems not to have been made. The lymph glands near 

 the tumors are enlarged and full of blood. They contain 

 hemorrhages and are infiltrated with a serous fluid. The 

 afferent lymph vessels are sometimes distended with gases, 

 giving them the appearance of strings of beads. Changes 

 similar to those of the external muscles appear in the muscles 

 of the tongue and pharynx when the disease, as may happen 

 in rare cases, is localized in the oral and pharyngeal mucous 

 membranes. 



A large amount of blood-red exudate is frequently 

 found in the abdominal cavity. In other cases only small 

 quantities of a serous fluid is present. In still others no 

 changes at all appear. The abdominal changes seem to be 

 determined by the swelling of the muscles, /. e., whether it has 

 or has not spread to the peritoneum. Yellow gelatinous and 

 hemorrhagic infiltrations are often met with on the omentum, 

 mesentery and in the neighborhood of the kidneys. The 

 mucous membrane of the stomach and small intestine is fre- 

 quently swollen, congested and infiltrated with hemorrhages, 

 in which case the contents of the intestine are bloody. The 

 liver is hyperemic, but the spleen is usually normal. 



In the thoracic cavity, the pleurae in the neighborhood of 

 the swollen parts of the skin and mediastinum are sometimes 

 hemorrhagic. The pleurae may also show large ecchymoses, 

 in which case the thoracic cavity contains a sero-sanious exu- 

 date. Hemorrhages are sometimes present in the lungs, peri- 

 cardium, myocardium and under the endocardium. The 

 muscular tissue of the heart is very soft, but the other muscles 

 show only slight changes. The mucous membrane of the 



