7O KENNEL DISEASES. 
In the first stage of the disease the affected membrane is inflamed, hot and 
dry, and its surfaces are no longer slippery as in health. After one or two days 
an unusual quantity of fluid is poured over them into the sack. If great, this 
effusion interferes with the action of the heart, which is also often displaced by 
it. The breathing is difficult and labored, and there is generally quite high fever. 
If the ear is then placed to the chest the heart-sounds either cannot be heard or 
are muffled, and appreciable only with difficulty. The pulse is soft, weak and 
irregular ; there is frequent sighing, the lips are purplish, while in extreme cases 
the legs soon become dropsical. In such, also, the chest in the region of the 
heart may be puffed with dropsical swelling. 
True dropsy of the pericardium, termed hydro-pericardium, frequently occurs 
with dropsical effusions elsewhere, in valvular diseases of the heart, diseases of 
the kidney and liver, intense anemia, and occasionally late in severe distemper. 
After the inflammation has set in, and until the effusion has taken place, the 
dry surfaces of the membrane constituting the sack give off a friction-sound, as 
they rub together with each pulsation and movement of the heart. This sound 
disappears as soon as the effusion forms. In dropsy of the pericardium, how- 
ever, this rubbing-sound and fever are absent. 
Even were it possible for a non-professional to detect with certainty the pres- 
ence of pericarditis, professional assistance would be required in treatment, for 
in the majority of cases it is necessary to draw out the fluid by means of a trocar 
and canula. The former is a pointed, rod-like instrument, usually about one- 
fourth of an inch in diameter and some three inches in length. The canula isa 
thin tube which is fitted over the trocar as tightly as possible and yet be easily 
removable. Both are driven into the cavity to be tapped. Then the trocar is 
withdrawn, while the canula is left in the puncture to conduct off the fluid. 
If the professional assistant be a physician who is not well up in the anatomy 
of the dog, it will likely be necessary to advise him that during the operation the 
dog should be on his feet, or at least on his forefeet, and that the point at which 
the trocar should be entered is generally between the seventh and eighth ribs, 
quite near the median line. In health the heart commonly reaches to the seventh 
rib, but in pericarditis it is more or less deplaced, while the sack enclosing it is 
distended. Therefore the place of puncture stated ought to be right. If, how- 
ever, it is not so, the fact can be easily determined by percussion. 
Were a mild case of pericarditis encountered, in which the effusion was not 
great, surgical interference might not be demanded, and medical treatment alone 
suffice. In such it would be necessary to paint the chest over the heart with 
the tincture of iodine, or apply blisters, and administer a preparation that is 
laxative and includes digitalis in some form; the special object being to render 
the kidneys and bowels more active. 
