the 
VETERINARIA 
VOL. XXXV. 
No.416. 
AUGUST, 1862. 
Fourth Series. 
No. 92. 
Communications and Cases. 
CASE OF EXTENSIVE DISEASE OF THE HEART 
OF A FILLY. 
Bv Andrew Fuller, M.R.C.V.S., Ramsev. 
July 1G, IS02. 
My dear Sir, —I was yesterday requested to make a 
post-mortem of a filly which had suddenly died. The inves¬ 
tigation brought to light the existence of pericarditis asso¬ 
ciated with hydrops pericardii. A favorable opportunity 
occurring, I have forwarded the heart, pericardium, and part 
of the lungs, to you, never having met with any case in which 
the heart was so extensively diseased. 
The subject was a two-vear-old half-bred filly, which has 
never thrived so well as those kept with her. About a month 
since, a slight cough, with the ordinary symptoms of simple 
catarrh, were observed. Since that time, however, no differ¬ 
ence in her condition was to be detected until a few hours pre¬ 
vious to her death, when the respiration became very difficult. 
Post-mortem examination .—The abdomen was filled with a 
fluid resembling serum, and the intestines were much con¬ 
tracted and empty, still not unhealthy in appearance. The liver 
was very much enlarged, being very firm in substance, and 
gorged with black blood. The kidneys and spleen were in a 
similar condition. 
The thorax contained a very large quantity of dark-coloured 
fluid, unmixed with lymph. The pleura was healthy, excepting 
where the pericardium was attached to the sternum and ribs, 
about six to eight inches square. 
It is unnecessary for me to make any remarks relative to the 
condition of the heart, excepting to say that the pericardial 
xxxv. 29 
