Endocarditis. 465 



tion and puckering so that they can no longer approximate to 

 each other, but leave the orifice imperfectly closed. They may, 

 moreover, have gristle or earthy salts deposited in their substance. 

 The osseous degeneration of such new products, appears to be the 

 most common cause of those ossifications of the heart of which 

 specimens are to be found in nearly all veterinary museums. 



Chronic valve disease is thus found to be a common result of 

 endocarditis, and from the obstacle presented to the flow of 

 blood through the different cardiac orifices by the rigid, inelastic 

 and distorted valves, hypertrophy of the heart frequently super- 

 venes. 



In our domestic quadrupeds ante-mortem clots and fibrinous 

 polypi have been chiefly formed in the right side of the heart, 

 and diseased valves in the left. 



Horse. Symptoms. The general symptoms agree in many 

 respects with those of pericarditis. There are the same general 

 symptoms of fever (temperature 101° to 106°), the same pinched, 

 anxious countenance, the same shortness of breath and oppression 

 when moved, the same violent heart's action, and the same rapid 

 excitable pulse, tending to be irregular and intermittent. The 

 dyspnoea may come on in paroxysms, sometimes without apparent 

 occasion, the breathing becoming short, quick and panting, too 

 quick to be counted, the head and neck extended, the nostrils 

 and chest walls dilated, and the mucosae deeply congested. In 

 some cases epistaxis has supervened and in others laryngeal pare- 

 sis, — stertor. Among the more specific symptoms are a very violent 

 impulse of the heart against the left side, varying in force, how- 

 ever, in successive beats ; a metallic tinkling accompanying the 

 impulse and sometimes heard at some little distance from the 

 body, a blowing murmur as soon as the changes in the valves 

 render them insufficient to close the orifices, and, if the obstruc- 

 tion exists on the right side, venous pulse, general venous 

 congestion, and dropsical swellings. 



The hand, applied flat on the ribs just behind the left elbow, 

 detects the violent impulse of the heart, and often also a fre- 

 mitus or thrill, which has been compared to the purring of a 

 cat. 



The pulse may at first have considerable force, but as insuffi- 

 ciency of the valves ensues, it becomes small and weak, its weak- 

 30 



