444 Veterinary Medicine. 



In dogs, breathing may be moderate at first, during rest, but 

 under exertion becomes rapid, labored, dyspnceic, the animal 

 standing or sitting with fore legs apart, and elbows turned out, 

 the jugulars stand out full and prominent, and the eyes, mouth 

 and nose are cyanotic. Palpitations and irregularity of rhythm 

 are common ; the pulse unequal, becoming small and weak. 

 Standing the patient on his hind limbs restores the lost respira- 

 tory murmur and weakened heart sounds in hydrothorax but 

 not in hydro-pericardium. 



Chronic Pericarditis is sometimes seen in the ox as a result 

 of tuberculosis, and without any preceding acute attack. In 

 other cases it follows the acute. It may be manifested by the 

 local symptoms without the accompanying acute fever. Along 

 with a slight fever, there is the oppressed breathing, aggravated 

 by exertion, the weak irregular or intermittent pulse, the muffled 

 or distant heart sounds, the absence of respiratory sounds, and 

 the dullness on percussion over a space represented by an inverted 

 cone at the anterior part of the chest on each side, the venous 

 pulse in the neck and the general tendency to dropsy. (See 

 hydropericardium and adherent pericardium). 



If the pericarditis has been the result of sharp pointed metallic 

 bodies swallowed, and afterwards making their way to the heart, it 

 is sometimes preceded by eructations, tympany, difficulty in 

 swallowing or in rumination, and attended by dropsy under the 

 sternum, but more frequently the heart symptoms are the first to 

 be noticed. It is not usually attended by the high fever of other 

 pericarditis. 



Post Mortem Appearances. These do not differ materially from 

 those of pleurisy, to which accordingly the reader is referred. 

 The effusions and false membranes are of course localized in the 

 sac of the pericardium. A frequent termination is a permanent 

 adhesion of the pericardium throughout more or less of its extent 

 to the surface of the heart. In cases of death, the serous effusion 

 is commonly colored with blood, though mostly from 2. post mortem 

 infiltration of blood from the congested lungs. The effusion has 

 been known to measure fifteen litres in the horse. It may be 

 purulent or combined with foetid gases, particularly in traumatic 

 cases. After mild attacks, white patches (milk spots) are often 

 left, extending, it may be only through the pericardium, and in 



