262 
A CASE OF ENDOCARDITIS. 
of the ventricular septum. It would be said that the clot had 
here begun to commence a process of organization. It was 
white, homogeneous, and so strongly adherent to the septum, 
that there seemed to be an amalgamation between the tissue of 
the clot and the fleshy fibres of the septum. 
The lining membrane of the ventricle seemed to have quite 
disappeared, over a space as large as a crown piece ; and at the 
termination of the adherence of the clot it had increased in thick- 
ness, and was opaque and white. At a little distance, the sub- 
serous cellular tissue was strongly injected. The muscular fibres, 
at the point of union with the clot, suddenly underwent a kind of 
transformation ; they became white, and altogether confounded 
and homogeneous with the clot. 
The fibrinous tree, through the whole of its extent, except at 
about an inch from the point of adhesion, was formed of con- 
centric layers. 
In the left cavities there was nothing abnormal, except a few 
ecchymoses, and a small quantity of yellow red clotty substance, 
without any adhesion. 
Neither the abdominal nor cranial cavities contained any thing 
remarkable, nor was there any appearance of inflammation in the 
articulations of the humerus or the femur. 
I regard this as a remarkable case of endocarditis , or inflam- 
mation of the inner and lining membrane of the heart. The symp- 
toms observed during the life of the animal, and particularly the 
lesions that were found after death, could leave no doubt as to 
the nature of the disease. 
The most remarkable of the phenomena which appeared after 
death was the fibrinous clot, which filled the right cavity of the 
heart, and extended into the divisions of the pulmonary artery. 
This clot was evidently formed during the life of the patient. In 
effect, at the points at which it adhered to the lining membrane, 
it presented unequivocal characters of organization. The inter- 
nal membrane of the heart had disappeared, aud there was a 
sudden and complete transformation of the parts. The symp- 
toms during life were the effects or the indications of the strange 
process that was going forward. 
It was sufficiently plain that the clot did not acquire the whole 
of its volume, and the peculiarity of its organization at or imme- 
diately following the moment of death, for it was formed by the 
successive additions of new layers. This was sufficiently proved 
by the disposition of the concentric fibrinous deposits. 
What was the cause of this disease 1 Did there exist in this 
animal a rheumatic diathesis, as the two attacks of lameness which 
