CHRONIC RUPTURE OF THE SEPTUM AURICULARUM. 507 
ailing for some time. The history of the case is as fol- 
lows : 
She had calved three months since, and about a month 
afterwards she was noticed to do badly ; but the pro- 
prietor, thinking that the warm weather of the spring, and 
her being turned to grass would improve her condition, did 
not consider it necessary to call in a veterinary surgeon. 
On his finding, however, that with the advance of the spring 
there was no improvement, but rather, on the contrary, that 
she gradually became worse, he sent for me. 
I found her in a most emaciated condition, and evidently 
suffering considerably from nervous excitation, exhibiting 
symptoms akin to those of phrenitis. As she had been ill 
a long time, I concluded that this excitement was only 
symptomatic of some other disease. 
From her extreme terror and violence it was impossible to 
ascertain the state of the pulse ; and from her greatly 
emaciated condition, I deemed it impracticable to extract 
blood. I therefore exhibited an aperient draught, and followed 
it up in the evening by a mixture composed of — 
Spt. JEther. Nit., %] ; 
Tinct. Opii, §ij. 
On the following morning I found her so much composed 
from the effects of the sedative that 1 was able to institute 
a tolerablv close examination of the symptoms. The 
Schneiderian and conjunctival membranes were of a dark 
blue colour ; the muzzle was free from moisture, and the mouth 
and extremities cold. Upon auscultating the chest, I was 
struck with a peculiar gurgling sound which was emitted by 
the heart, and which led me to conclude that there existed 
some structural disease in the organ. I therefore told the 
proprietor that there was no probability of her recovery, and 
that it was next to useless to treat the case. 
A few days afterwards, when in the neighbourhood, I was 
informed that she had fallen down and died very quickly 
while they were administering some gruel to her on the day 
following the one I had given her up. Fortunately, the heart, 
lungs, and liver w’ere preserved, so that I was able to exa- 
mine them. The liver was normal, as was the heart also 
as viewed externally; but upon laying it open I found 
a direct communication existing between the right and 
left auricle, from a rupture of the foramen ovale or rather, 
perhaps, of the septum, having taken place, by which the 
venous blood was partly mingled with the arterial. The rent 
was about three quarters of an inch in length, and its borders 
