78 
FATAL CASE OF PLEURO-PNEUMON Y. 
sematous state, and, on cutting into the substance of the right 
one, it presented one of the best illustrations of hepatization that 
I think I ever beheld. The heart retained its normal size, but the 
serous investiture of the left auricle and ventricle shewed traces, 
if not of inflammatory action, at least of much functional de- 
rangement; the abdominal parietes were enormously swollen, 
in consequence of the stomach and intestines being distended 
with a large quantity of gaseous matter; the liver was gorged 
with bile; the stomach and spleen were in a healthy condition; 
both kidneys were in a state of sanguineous engorgement; large 
patches of ecchymosis were irregularly spread over the entire 
surface of the bladder. 
Amongst the many forms of disease to which the animal 
economy is subject, I believe it may be pretty generally ad- 
mitted that structural complications are the more fearful to en- 
counter, as well as being most commonly fatal in their results — 
particularly when those remedial agents of which we are in pos- 
session have been untimely, and consequently inefficaciously, 
employed in attempting to counteract the impending evil. 
In the preceding case, the pathognomonic symptoms that cha- 
racterise effusion into the cavity of the chest, to a large amount, 
were particularly well marked ; the chest became perceptibly 
enlarged ; the intercostal spaces were scarcely any longer dis- 
coverable ; the ordinary clear resonance on percussion was no 
longer present, and the respiratory murmur was altogether ab- 
sent. In proportion as the fluid augmented in the cavity of the 
chest, considerable exhaustion of vital energy ensued, until the 
powers of life were completely destroyed. 
That peculiar “ bubbling sound,” which some enlightened vete- 
rinarians view as an unequivocal characteristic of pleuritic effu- 
sion, could not at any period be elicited in this case ; neither 
have I been so fortunate as to be able to discover it in any 
instance as yet. It must, in my opinion, be of very rare occur- 
rence, particularly when we know the physical condition in 
which the effused fluid must be circumstanced before such a 
sound could be possibly produced. Mr. Percivall, in his ad- 
mirable work on Hippopathology, states that such a sound can 
only be produced when air or gas exists in combination with 
flmd in the chest. 
Gentlemen, should the foregoing case be sufficiently worth 
insertion in your invaluable periodical, it is quite at your disposal, 
making such corrections, at the same time, as you may deem 
necessary. 
It gives me much pleasure to observe the independent manner 
in which the New Series has been launched forth. The great 
