DISEASES OF THE HEART. 349 



peculiar type, such as rheumatism or influenza. Precision in 

 this diagnosis, though important, is very rarely called for, as 

 the diseases yield to general antiphlogistic treatment, and 

 are very commonly curable. 



Some fatal heart complaints or injuries are remarkable for 

 the absence of any general symptoms. This is particularly 

 the case in cattle not used for severe exertion of any descrip- 

 tion, and in which a slight interference with the circulation 

 may not affect the general health. 



Frequently have cases been recorded of oxen falling dead, 

 and having a knitting needle or wire lodged in the chest and 

 piercing the pericardium and heart. The old adhesions prove, 

 in such cases, that the instrument of death has been long 

 creeping to the vital organ, and for some time so placed as 

 necessarily to interfere with its rythmic action. It is the 

 sudden death without any appreciable cause that leads us to 

 suspect, before performing a post-mortem examination, that 

 the heart is injured or affected. 



Chronic heart disease, which gives rise to some incon- 

 venience, varying in degree according to the importance of 

 the lesion, is indicated by symptoms regarding which I have 

 to offer some observations. Dyspnoea is a very prominent 

 sign in many cases, and which leads to confusion so as to 

 cause animals affected with interference to the organs of cir- 

 culation to be treated for a different acute malady of the 

 chest. An animal free from any acute symptoms except a 

 loss of appetite, if perchance oppressed by exertion, will, 

 when galloped, trotted, or even walked far, and especially 

 up-hill, indicate great difficulty in breathing, and is in fact 

 condemned as thick-winded. When such dyspnoea is unasso- 

 ciated with cough, and is seen in an animal in good condition 

 which is subject to cold extremities, venous regurgitation in 

 the neck on exertion, and other symptoms hereafter noticed 



