TRANSLATIONS FROM CONTINENTAL JOURNALS. 801 
had disappeared. Its weight was eighteen kilogrammes, nearly 
ten times the weight of the natural heart of the ox; its 
length was thirty-seven centimetres, and the circumference 
was in proportion. But the most remarkable feature was the 
tissue of the heart itself. On incising it the scalpel met with 
great resistance, and deviated from its proper direction through 
the varying cohesion and friability. On making a horizontal 
section there were seen, on a dark-purple ground, some small, 
yellow spots bearing some resemblance to calcareous sand. 
The vertical section presented these yellow points with more 
regularity; they were in a parallel line with the fibres of the 
heart. Theseproductions were not in the same proportion in the 
structure of the heart; they were less abundant in the auricles, 
where they also were of a more granulated form, and isolated; 
next came the apex, and then the parietes of the right ven¬ 
tricle, in which they were disposed in short, interrupted lines, 
but were rather larger. The greatest alterations were in the 
superior third of the partition between the ventricles, particu¬ 
larly on the left side, on which the incrustations were so 
complete that in some parts no trace of the fibres could be 
perceived, their place being occupied by a hard, yellow sub¬ 
stance which extended in lines or rays, decreasing in size and 
number as they proceeded further from the centre. There 
was no analogy between these deposits and those observed 
by M. Pigeaux in the human subject, and they were essen¬ 
tially different from the calculi or stones which are sometimes 
found in the heart of man. It appears evident, that this 
cretaceous substance was deposited by infiltration into the 
cellular tissue of the heart, and that afterwards in some parts 
the degeneration had invaded the fibres of the heart them¬ 
selves. The interior of this organ showed no morbid altera¬ 
tion; the orifices, the valves, &c., were all in their normal 
state. The most important membrane of the heart had not 
participated in the alteration, which is no less remarkable 
from the foregoing description of the alterations in the peri¬ 
cardium. There was only a relative alteration in the large 
blood-vessels, which is easily accounted for by their situation 
and propinquity to the enlarged organ. 
Next to these lesions must be placed those-of the brain, 
the substance of which was softened; the yellow substance had 
lost its tinge, and could hardly be distinguished from the 
white. Both were of the consistence of thick gruel, and of a 
grayish colour. The choroid plexus was discoloured, and the 
arachnoid contained a quantity of serum. A livid colour and 
thickening were observed in the dura mater and the other 
membranes. In short, the brain was the seat of chronic 
