HEART AND THE RESPIRATORY ACTION. 
51 
not attack the other horses as she had been accustomed to do, 
and her limbs seemed to be a little stiff. I immediately remarked 
a kind of shock of the whole body produced by the extraordinary 
force of the action of the heart, which beat with violence against 
the dorso-costal region, at the superior part of the first false sides, 
on the left side : the shock was very evident, and appeared as it 
it were made on some tumour which was interposed between the 
heart and the sides. The violence was such as to cause an agi¬ 
tation of the whole frame, which could be seen at a considerable 
distance. 
The pulsations of the heart were regular, and about fifty in a 
minute, and synchronous with those of the glosso-facial artery, 
which were of the same number. The artery was soft, the pulse 
regular, and offering little resistance under the finger. 
The respiration presented a peculiar character. On placing 
my ear at the opening of the nostrils, I could hear the animal 
make three successive inspirations which coincided wdth the 
beats of the heart. Each of these three inspirations was followed 
by an expiration so short and so weak, that I could not feel the 
current of the air that was expired ; but the fourth inspiration was 
followed by a strong and prolonged expiration, which was kept 
up during three beats of the heart; then the respiration re-com¬ 
menced in the way I have just described, and continued to be 
regularly executed in this manner during the whole of the day. 
Tlie movements of the flanks and sides were in exact accordance 
with this respiration. 
The vessels of the conjunctiva were not injected; the tempera¬ 
ture of the body was natural; the evacuations were as usual, 
except that the pellets of dung were small and hard. The 
animal did not attempt to lie down. 
Auscultation of the chest gave me no reason to believe that 
hydrothorax existed ; or that there was any tumour at the base 
of the heart, or any aneurism of the aorta. 
Causes. —Unknown. 
Diagnostic .—I imagined that there was some displacement of 
the apex of the heart which presents itself backward, either 
from dilatation of the ventricle, or from a rupture of the pericar¬ 
dium, and which permitted the heart to beat violently against the 
superior part of the posterior ribs. 
Treatment .—Bleeding from the jugular about five pounds, 
emollient clysters, and spare diet. 
There was nothing unhealthy about the blood. 
215^ A.M. —The animal was in the same state, with this dif¬ 
ference, that the beats of the heart and the pulse were only forty- 
five in a minute, and the strong and prolonged expiration which 
