PATHOLOGY. 209 



rule very extensive or marked owing to the freshness of the 

 cases ; in three it was extensive over the shoulders and the depend- 

 ent parts and was of a dark, brownish-red color. Rigor mortis 

 in some of the cases had not developed. In others it was very 

 strong. In degree it was, perhaps, when compared with the rigor 

 mortis occurring in other acute infectious diseases, only sur- 

 passed by that seen in Asiatic cholera. The muscles were usually 

 of a bright-red color; haemorrhages were not observed in the 

 abdominal ones, but small extravasations of blood were on one 

 occasion noted in the thoracic muscles in stripping them from 

 the thoracic wall and ribs. 



Pericardial cavity, heart and blood vessels. — In the anterior 

 mediastinum in the tissues surrounding the thymus gland usually 

 much oedema and frequently extensive haemorrhages occurred. 

 On the visceral surface of the serous layer of the pericardium, 

 petechise often occurred and larger punctiform haemorrhages 

 were sometimes encountered. On the epicardium varying num- 

 bers of petechise were observed in most of the cases. The right 

 chambers of the heart were usually distended with blood and in 

 a number of cases showed acute dilatation and thinning of the 

 w^all, particularly of the right auricle. The muscle was in some 

 instances soft but usually of a fairly firm consistency. Cloudy 

 swelling was almost invariably noted; early fatty degeneration 

 was observed in a few instances. The bronchial veins sometimes 

 showed haemorrhages in the intima, and numerous extravasations 

 of blood occurred about the vessels posterior to the peritoneum 

 and in the region of the kidneys, omentum, and mesentery. In 

 the omentum, haemorrhages were particularly observed in the 

 fat around the larger veins. 



Histological examination of the heart. — The changes in the 

 heart consist chiefly in a cloudy swelling of the muscle fibers with 

 some oedema between the fibers in some cases. The fibers are, 

 however, usually closely packed. In some cases slight haemor- 

 rhage was present beneath the epicardium. In some there was 

 infiltration of the epicardial fat into the muscle, and in one 

 or two cases slight infiltration of this fat between the muscle 

 bundles. 



Fatty degeneration of the fibers to any marked degree was 

 not noted, but lesser degrees could not be determined on account 

 of the fact that the method of preservation of the tissues did 

 not permit of the satisfactory use of selective stains for fat. 



Fragmentation of the fibers was a constant feature in all of the 

 cases examined. No exudation from the vessels was encountered, 

 although the vessels were constantly engorged. 



105936 6 



