CARDITIS 119 



must never be securely reckoned upon: the horse 

 saved from an attack of pleurisy will long be an object 

 of suspicion. The pleura has to recover from its 

 maceration — the lung has to recover from its collapse : 

 the cough, the swelling of the legs, the disinclina- 

 tion to work, and the occasional stitchy pains, will 

 often remind the owner that the horse is not altogether 

 safe. 



It must not be forgotten — indeed, cannot be too 

 often repeated — that the various diseases of the chest 

 often coexist, rendering the symptoms more obscure 

 and dangerous. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



CARDITIS AND PERICARDITIS; INFLAMMATION OF 

 THE HEART AND ITS INVESTING MEMBRANE. 



The heart is the grand agent in circulation. It is the 

 central pump, by the power of which the vital fluid is 

 distributed to every part of the frame. It sympathizes 

 with every irregularity in the various structures which 

 compose the body. If there is inflammation in any 

 part, it is sure to be marked by the throbbing and 

 increased action of the vessels of that part ; and it 

 will not be long before the heart partakes of the irri- 

 tation, and the pulse will be evidently affected. But 

 the heart is subject to disease, independent of any 

 sympathy with the different portions of the frame. It 

 is itself the seat of inflammation. Carditis is a disease, 

 not of frequent occurrence ; but which is sometimes 

 seen, and requires the most careful attention. 



