56 
TRANSLATIONS FROM CONTINENTAL JOURNALS. 
CALCAREOUS CONCRETIONS FOUND IN THE AORTA OF A 
MARE, FOUR YEARS OLD. 
By Patarelli Giuseppe, Veterinary Surgeon. 
On the 26th of January the author was consulted on this 
case. She was a mare of the Maremme race, and the 
symptoms were as follow:—great prostration of the vital 
powers; the mucous membranes highly injected; the pulse 
hard and frequent; the respiration increased, presenting the 
characters of broken wind in the last stage; tumefaction of 
the anterior extremities; the neck extended, the head resting 
on the manger; pawing with the left fore foot; attempts 
made to lie down, but afraid of doing so; auscultation of the 
chest denoted a particular noise, resembling water being- 
poured from one vessel into another; at the region of the 
heart another sound, as if two pieces of wood were rubbed 
together, was detected, and at the other parts of the chest 
the parchment-sound was perceived to exist. 
The diagnosis was intense inflammation of the lungs and 
the pleura, with effusion into the cavity of the chest, which 
caused the embarrassment of the circulation as denoted by 
the sound at the heart. Or it may be that there exists 
organic disease of the organs of circulation. 
There were also manifested symptoms of colic ; these, how¬ 
ever, were to be attributed to a drastic purge which had been 
imprudently given the day before. 
From the gravity of the disease there was little chance of 
any available remedy, but some sedatives were prescribed, 
which produced a temporary relief, only, however, of short 
duration. The next morning the patient died. 
At the autopsy, made three hours after death, the follow¬ 
ing lesions were found:—The small intestines showed traces 
of inflammation; the liver was enlarged, and gorged with 
blood ; the kidneys were slightly engorged also; the thorax 
was found to contain about twenty-five litres of serum, slightly 
tinged with blood and suspending flocculi of lymph; the 
pleura was covered with false membranes; the pericardium 
was filled with yellowish serum; the heart was covered with 
a false membrane, the thickness of two finger-breadths, and 
forming a homogeneous covering; the ventricles contained 
but little blood, and the parenchyma of the organ was 
softened. In the aorta, just before the crutch formed by the 
bend of this vessel, were found several calculhof various sizes. 
