DISEASES OP HEAET, BLOOD VESSELS, AND LYMPHATICS. 77 



The friction sound of pericarditis can not be mistaken for the fric- 

 tion sound of pleurisy if the examination is a careful one, because 

 in the heart affection the sound is made in connection with the heart 

 beats, while in the pleuritic affection the sound is synchronous with 

 each respiration or breath of air taken in and expelled from the lungs. 



Treatment. — When pericarditis is complicated with rheumatism or 

 other diseases the latter must be treated as directed in the description 

 of them. The animal must be kept in a quiet, comfortable place, 

 where it will be free from excitement. Warm clothing should be applied 

 to the body and the legs should be hand-rubbed until the circulation in 

 them is reestablished, and then snugly bandaged. The food should 

 be nutritive and in moderate quantity. Bleeding should not be per- 

 formed unless the case is in the hands of an expert. 



At the beginning, give as a purgative Epsom salts — 1 pound to an 

 average-sized cow — dissolved in about a quart of warm water and 

 administered as a drench. When there is much pain, 2 ounces of lau- 

 danum may be given, diluted with a pint of water, every three hours, 

 until relief is given. Do not give the laudanum unless demanded by 

 the severity of the pain, as it tends to constipation. Give one-half 

 ounce of nitrate of potassium (saltpeter), dissolved in drinking water, 

 four or five times a day. After the attack has abated, mustard mixed 

 with water may be rubbed well over the left side of the chest to stim- 

 ulate the absorption of the fluid contained within the pericardium. 

 The other medicines may be discontinued and the following adminis- 

 tered: Sulphate of iron, 2 ounces; powdered gentian, 6 ounces; mix 

 and make eight powders. Give one powder every day at noon, mixed 

 with food, if the animal will eat it, or shaken up with water in a bot- 

 tle as a drench. Also the following: Iodid of potassium, 2 ounces; 

 nitrate of potassium, 8 ounces ; mix and make sixteen powders. Give 

 one in drinking water or in drench every morning and evening. The 

 last two prescriptions may be continued for several weeks if necessary. 



If at any time during the attack much weakness is manifested, give 

 the following drench every three hours : Spirits of nitrous ether, 3 

 ounces; rectified spirits, 4 ounces; water, 1 pint; mix and give as a 

 drench. 



In extreme cases tapping the pericardium with a trocar and canula 

 to draw off the fluid is resorted to, but the operation requires exact 

 anatomical knowledge. 



After death from pericarditis there is always more or less fluid found 

 in the pericardium; the surfaces are rough and covered with a yellow- 

 colored exudate. There are also, in many cases, adhesions, to a greater 

 or less extent, between the heart and pericardium. 



MYOCARDITIS. 



Inflammation of the muscular structure of the heart occurs in lim- 

 ited, circumscribed areas, as evidenced by post-mortem examination, 



