142 VETERINARY HOMCEOPATHY. 



sioii OH our part; we refer to the string-like chords which are at- 

 tached at one end to the margins of the valves and 10 the other at 

 the walls of the heart; they are called chordae tendinae; these 

 chords are found in the ventricles of the heart; those parts of the 

 walls to which they are attached are irregular in surface and 

 rounded, the object of which is supposed to ba the drawing tight 

 of the said chords during the period of the heart's contraction, 

 and by means of these chords the segments (or parts) of the 

 valves are kept in apposition, so that the orifice is left open or 

 closed according to the functional requirements; these chords are 

 clothed with a membrane similar in quality to that of the valves, 

 and may in like manner be affected by inflammation and thus 

 rendered incapable of performing their duties in a satisfactory 

 manner. The defective action of the valves results sometimes in 

 a backward flow of the blood, which produces that venous pulse 

 sometimes observed in the jugular veins, which pass down the 

 well-known grooves in a horse's neck; at other times to an accu- 

 mulation of blood in the ventricles, and yet again in the lungs. 



The symptoms are not easy of recognition whereby any one or 

 more of these morbid conditions can be definitely fixed upon, 

 except by experts who have made the sounds and sensations 

 characteristic of the same their special study; therefore, we shall 

 not pretend to enumerate them here; but satisfy ourselves by 

 dealing with the more general indications for the selection of 

 drugs under the head of 



Treatment. — Aconite 3X in this, as in a large proportion of 

 inflammatory diseases, comes first and foremost; and without 

 attempting to argue from a physiological standpoint as to the why 

 and wherefore of the action of Aconite upon the circulatory sys- 

 tem, we satisfy ourselves with the broad and possibly very unscien- 

 tific advice that horsemen who know nothing from a professional 

 standpoint of drug action, can certainly never do wrong by admin- 

 istering a few drops of Aconite, whatever may be the peculiar 

 morbid condition where the heart is affected, watch the result, 

 and if not satisfactory, resort can then be had to other remedies 

 according to the symptoms indicated; but we shall not err on the 

 side of caution if we suggest some of the more leading symptoms 

 indicating the selection of Aconite, or its active principle Aconltine; 

 the association of acute rheumation (the symptoms for which 



