PALPITATION OF THE HEART. 353 



proceed from his inside, which is often erroneously supposed 

 to be the beating of his heart, whereas it proceeds from the 

 excessive motion of the abdominal muscles.' This interpre- 

 tation of the ' noise' was shortly afterwards disputed by Mr 

 Smith, of Woodhouse, who ascribed it to the heart. In a 

 subsequent letter, however, Mr Apperley, having in the 

 interval met with another case, argues that the noise, from 

 the situation in which it is heard, cannot possibly proceed 

 from the heart, unless, indeed, as he adds, ' the heart lay 

 where it should not lie :' but repeating his former opinion 

 is caused by ' a convulsive action of the abdominal muscles/ 



"In 1831, Mr Castley, with his mind directed to the sub- 

 ject by the foregoing observations of Mr Apperley, sent a 

 paper to the Veterinarian, wherein, although he had never 

 seen but one ' well-marked instance of it/ he appears to have 

 hit upon the true explication of the phenomenon ; which is, 

 that the ' noise in the inside' is owing to ' spasmodic affec- 

 tion of the diaphragm. 5 In Mr Castley's case, the prominent 

 symptom was ' a convulsive motion or jerking of the whole 

 body, accompanied by a dull thumping noise, audible at 

 several yards distance, and evidently proceeding from his 

 inside. The beats appeared to be about forty a minute. On 

 placing my hand over the heart, the action of that organ 

 could be felt but very indistinctly: the beating evidently came 

 from behind the heart, and was plainly to be felt in the direc-* 

 tion of the diaphragm. Again, placing my hand upon the 

 abdominal muscles, the jerks appeared to come from before 

 backwards. There was no pulsation to be felt at the sub- 

 maxillary artery/ 



" Mr Brown, V.S., Melton Mowbray, in 1833, published 

 three ' well-marked cases ' of it. The first was that of a 

 young mare taken up from grass and driven slowly thirty- 

 five miles in one day, with a stomach filled with three pecks 



2 A 



