FOREIGN BODIES INJURING THE HEART. 401 



It is difficult to furnish a complete history of accidents 

 which have been, on the whole, but imperfectly observed. I 

 cannot do better, I think, than reproduce abstracts of two of 

 the best papers on the subject, though abundant materials 



was not discovered, having probably again found its way into the 

 second stomach. In the second, the pericardium was enormously dis- 

 tended, and a hair-pin transfixed the heart, pericardium, and reticulum. 

 In the third, a sewing-needle was found transfixing the reticulum and 

 diaphragm, injuring the pericardium at its apex. 



Zimmermann observed three cases of traumatic disease of the heart 

 as the result of penetration of its walls by sharp bodies. Thierarzliche 

 Zeitung. Herausgegeben von den LEHRERN der grossherz. Badishen 

 Thierarzneischule Red. C. A. FUCHS). 4 Jahrgang, Carlsruhe, p. 21. 



Werner gave a case in which a table-knife, 7^ inches in length, 

 passed from the reticulum to the left ventricle of the heart, penetrating 

 its substance to the depth of two lines. Centralarchiv fur die, gesammte 

 Veterindrmedicin und die Veterindrdrzlichen Standee- und Vereinsan- 

 gelegenheiten. Herausgegeben von Dr J. M. KREUTZER, Prof, in Miin- 

 chen, 1848, p. 165. 



Franzisci relates a case of emphysema extending over the whole body 

 from a ramrod, 14 inches long, having passed through the diaphragm, 

 and wounded the under surface of the left lung and thoracic walls. 

 Thierarzliche Wochenblatt, redigirt von Niklas, Landgerichtsthierarzte 

 im Neu-Ulm. 1 Jahrgang, 1848, p. 29. 



Rainard says that needles frequently pass from the oesophagus to the 

 heart, and in some cases sticking in the substance of the heart, and in 

 others remaining free in the pericardium. He describes a case in 

 which it is probable that the needle passed through the vena cava into 

 the substance of the heart. Journal de Medecine Veterinaire de Lyons. 

 1849, p. 425. 



Murray records a case in which a headless brass pin, three inches in 

 length, had transfixed the pericardium and left ventricle, causing death. 

 The Veterinary Record and Transactions of the Veterinary Medical 

 Association for 1849, p. 244. 



Several other such cases are alluded to in the Dictionaire de Medecine, 

 de Chirurgie, et <f Hyeiene Veterinaires, par M. HURTEL D'ABOVAL. 

 Tome 1, p. 578, et seq. Article " Corps etrangers." 



2 D 



