INFLAMMATION OF TTIE DIAPHRAGM IN A MARE. 627 
with a tottering gait, after the other horses. She was then vio- 
lently convulsed for a quarter of an hour, and died. 
In a post-mortem examination, which took place on the same 
day, I found the whole of the centrum tendinosum diaphragmaiis 
tom from the pars musculosa , so that a portion of the intestines 
lay in the thorax ; the centrum tendineum was united to the ver- 
tebra lumbales by the crura diaphragmatis. A number of fila- 
ments or threads depended from the torn edge of the pars costalis 
diaphragmatis , while a whole cluster of muscular fibres were per- 
ceptible on the centrum tendineum. The peritoneum, by which 
both the pars musculosa and the pars tendinea of the diaphragm 
are covered, was beset with small lumps or knots, which gave it 
a rough uneven surface. The liver was united to the centrum 
tendineum, by means of an exuded lympha p/astica. The pars 
musculosa of the diaphragm was softer and less solid than is 
natural, and of a dirty whitish-red colour. When rubbed 
gently between the fingers, the filaments parted from each other 
without difficulty, and there appeared to me to be as little con- 
nexion between them, as is often found in horses that have died 
of inflammation of the intestines. All served to testify the exist- 
ence, from the very first, of rupture of the diaphragm. 
No other diseased appearances were observable. The whole 
of the peritoneum was sound, and also the liver, the spleen, and 
the intestines. The lungs were sound, and betrayed no signs of 
having belonged to a diseased animal ; the pleura was, likewise, 
in its natural state, nor was there any abnormal increase of size 
either in the pleura or the lungs. The stomach was full of undi- 
gested food, and distended with gas. On its internal surface there 
was a gangrenous spot, and it appeared slightly inflamed. 
In my opinion, the sudden death of the mare arose from her 
having eaten too voraciously, thus distending her stomach. In 
lying down so hastily, she pressed the distended and hardened 
stomach suddenly and violently against the diaphragm, which, 
in consequence of the previously existing inflammation, being 
rendered rather less consistent, and in which a species of soften- 
ing ( ramollissement mollifies) had or did exist, could not resist 
such a concussion ; it was, therefore, ruptured, and immediate 
death ensued. 
I must pause to remark, that I was unable to detect any 
hiccough ( singultus ) in this animal throughout the whole pro- 
gress of the disease, although 1 believe that is considered to be 
a pathognomonical symptom of inflammation of the diaphragm 
in the human being; and many veterinary surgeons, asWaldinger 
and others, assert that it is always observable in the horse. 
Magazin fur die gesammte Thierheilkunde , 
vol. vii, 1841, p. 287. 
