DISEASES OF THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM. 1 35 



time, we hope to be able to suggest such methods of procedure as 

 shall at least be sufficient to arouse suspicion, which it would be 

 well afterwards to have confirmed, by an experienced veterinarian; 

 but here we must draw attention to the fact that among allopaths 

 the treatment of heart disease is well-nigh exclusively confined to 

 the administration of tonics, with a view to the building up of the 

 constitution generally, and to the ultimate throwing off the heart 

 disease as the result thereof; they do not recognize the possibility 

 of specific drug action upon the various morbid conditions affect- 

 ing the organ or any of its constituent anatomical parts; in this 

 the homoeopath has a distinct advantage, as will be seen when we 

 deal with the subject of treatment. 



Physical examination of an animal to detect heart disease is 

 conducted by "palpation,'' that is, applying the hand over the 

 region of the heart to feel, if possible, the character of the im- 

 pulse; or, better still, by " auscultation,'" namely, listening to the 

 heart's sounds with the naked ear or by the application of an in- 

 strument known as the stethoscope; in order to do this satisfac- 

 torily the ear or the stethoscope must be applied directly over the 

 space in the chest, nearest to which the heart approaches, which 

 is discovered by lifting up the near foreleg, pulling the same 

 straightforward, and selecting the lowest part of the chest as far 

 forward as the extended leg will allow, where the muscles over 

 the ribs are the least thick; in this position the sounds of the heart 

 will be distinctly observable, and there will be no difficulty in detect- 

 ing any irregularities, always bearing in mind that for every con- 

 traction of the heart, which is equivalent to one beat of the pulse 

 when the same is felt in an artery, there are two sounds which 

 maybe expressed by the words " //^i^i^ «'/(' (5/" one — the first — soft 

 and prolonged, the other — the second — short and sharp; the first 

 sound is the result of the driving of the blood from the auricles 

 into the ventricles, and is produced b}' the closing of the valves 

 which serve to divide the two upper compartments, the auricles, 

 from the two lower compartments, the ventricles; the second, 

 short, sharp sound is due in like manner to the valves which close 

 the outlets of the ventricles, namely, the artery which leads to the 

 lungs, and the aorta, or large tube, which conveys the blood all 

 over the body. At this point we should strongly recommend any 

 one who desires to turn to good account what follows, to practice 



