580 Veterinary Medicine. 



ble mare, and though the kick left no noticeable skin lesion the 

 colt died in three hours with symptoms of internal hemorrhage. 

 At the necropsy a laceration of the spleen of about five inches long 

 was disclosed, and a large quantitj r of blood had accumulated in 

 the peritoneum. 



Brandis mentions a case consequent on a violent fall on the left 

 hypochondrium, 



In other cases pre-existing disease of the spleen or its blood- 

 vessels have proved active factors. In the friable degenerated 

 spleen of leucocythaemia multiple small lacerations have been 

 found (Peuch, l,aulanie) ; in engorgement of the spleen conse- 

 quent on thrombosis of the splenic vein (Wiart) ; in chronic indi- 

 gestion with habitually loaded stomach compressing the gastric 

 and hepatic arteries and determining a reflux of blood through 

 the cseliac axis into the spleen (Mongin). 



Finally, though less frequently than in the ox, the engorge- 

 ment of the spleen with blood in cases of anthrax may be a cause 

 of rupture. 



Lesions. The rupture may be on any part of the spleen and 

 it may be complete or incomplete ; in the latter event the 

 capsule may have ruptured while the more elastic peritoneal 

 covering has remained intact enclosing a coagulum of variable 

 size bulging above the level of the spleen. When the peritoneal 

 coat has given way, its laceration is usually smaller than that in 

 the spleen and its proper envelope. Any degeneration of the 

 spleen will affect the appearance of the lesion. In one case 

 caused by external violence the adjacent portions of the spleen 

 were reduced to a soft pulp. In such a case there is a slow but 

 continuous flow of blood in a small stream which may, however, 

 prove fatal (Humbert and Pont). 



Again in cases caused by external violence there may be 

 fractures of the ribs, ecchymosis, local swellings or even wounds 

 of the skin, but all these may be absent. The blood effused into 

 the peritoneum is usually clotted. If the effusion has taken place 

 slowly it is more or less coagulated around the edges of the wound 

 or even in its depth and in this way the hemorrhage may be 

 arrested. When the peritoneum is still intact the pressure of the 

 clot beneath it has served to arrest the flow. In such cases the 

 clot may be in part liquefied and absorbed and in part organized 



