PERICARDITIS. 121 



hitherto been spoken of; the covering of the heart is 

 also liable to inflammation equally dangerous; and 

 the disease is termed — 



PERICARDITIS. 



This disease, however, can seldom be recognized in 

 a living horse; or, at least, Veterinary Surgeons have 

 not yet sufficiently agreed on its distinguishing symp- 

 toms; nor has the cause of it been clearly ascer- 

 tained, excepting as connected with carditis, or with 

 pleurisy. In the first case, the symptoms of carditis 

 continue for a while ; the throbbing of the heart is 

 seen, producing a spasm of the whole frame; at 

 length, when a fluid begins to be effused within the 

 bag, there is an irregular action of the heart, attended 

 with laborious breathing, and a feeling of suffocation. 

 The horse is dull, weak, and languid. He sighs 

 frequently ; but rarely turns his head to his chest. 

 The pulse, at first regular but bounding, becomes 

 irregular, weak, intermittent ; it is roused to a rapid, 

 fluttering action by the least motion ; and it gradually 

 sinks again to almost absolute cessation. 



This, however, is so identified with the kind of 

 breathing arising from the pressure of fluid on the 

 lungs, that the one cannot always be distinguished 

 from the other ; and, if it could, we should have less 

 power over dropsy of the heart than over that of 

 the lungs. In addition to which it may be stated that, 

 from the situation of the pericardiac bag, effusion 

 of the fluid would be far more difficult to remove than 

 in the case of the chest. The heart, however, has 

 been tapped through the ensiform cartilage of the 



