OF THE CHEST. 1 87 



Incisions were made through the skin, but in opening them no blood 

 flowed. The venae cavse themselves did not contain any there were only 

 two clots of blood in the cavities of their hearts. One of them, of the size 

 of a small nutmeg, occupied the left ventricle ; the other, which was still 

 smaller, was found at the base of the right ventricle. The chest of one of 

 them enclosed a small quantity of serosity ; a similar fluid was between the 

 dura mater and the arachnoid membrane, and the same was the case in the 

 larger ventricles of the encephalon. The other viscera did not offer any- 

 thing remarkable, except the paleness and flaccidity of their tissue. The 

 great fatigues of the chace, and the immersion of these animals in water at 

 the time that they were very much heated, appeared to have been the causes 

 of this singular disease. In the Report of the labours of the School of Alfort, 

 in the year 1825, the same anaemia was remarked in two dogs that died 

 there ; one of them had lately undergone a considerable hemorrhage, and 

 in the other anaemia had developed itself spontaneously. 



It is in fact among dogs that this extreme anaemia has been principally 

 observed, and is ordinarily fatal. It has been remarked by M. Crusal in a 

 bullock attacked with gastro-enteritis. 



This disease, according to M. Vatel, is generally the symptom of a 

 chronic malady, or the instantaneous effect of an excessive hemorrhage. 

 It is rarely primary. The extreme discoloration of the tissues, and of the 

 mucous membrane more particularly ; the disappearance of the subcutane- 

 ous blood-vessels ; and the extreme feebleness of the animal, are the princi- 

 pal symptoms. There also often exists considerable swelling of the limbs. 



The following singular case of a wound penetrating into the chest and 

 pericardium of a dog is recorded by Professor Delafond : 



A mastiff dog fighting with another was stabbed in the chest by the 

 master of his antagonist. Five hours after the accident, the Professor was 

 sent for. On the exterior of the sternum was a laceration an inch and a 

 half in length, covered by a spumy fluid, from the centre of which was 

 heard a gurgling noise, showing that a wound had penetrated into the sac 

 of the pleura. The respiration was quick, and evidently painful ; the 

 beating of the heart was also strong and precipitate. The finger being 

 introduced into the wound, penetrated between the fourth and fifth rib on 

 the left side. " Having arrived at the pleuritic sac," says the Professor, 

 " I gently tapped the surface of the lung, in order to assure myself that it 

 was not injured ; my finger penetrated into the pericardium, and the point 

 of the heart beat against it." 



He bathed the wound with a little diluted wine, and brought the edges 

 of it as near together as he could, and confined them with a suture, 

 administering a mild aperient. 



On the following day, the animal walked slowly about, seeking for 

 something to eat ; he gave him some milk. On changing the dressing he 

 tried whether he could again introduce any sound into the wound ; but it 

 would only penetrate a very little way ; indeed, reunion by adhesion had 

 already taken place. 



On the fifth day, the animal was in good spirits ; the wound had a healthy 

 red appearance, and all tended to a speedy cure. 



On the eighth day he was sent home to his master, a distance of two 

 leagues from his house. He saw the dog eighteen months afterwards, and 

 he was as eager as ever after his game. 



The following is a case of rupture of the heart : a black pointer, of 



