726 
S. J. J. IIARGER. 
history that she had shown signs of vertigo, suddenly fell down 
and vomited. A closer examination revealed the remarkable 
fact that the heart was beating only twenty times per minute. 
The heart-beat could not be felt, nor heard on auscultation ; 
temperature 37.7 0 C., respiration 24,visible mucous membranes 
anasmic, great depression and weakness, general condition 
good. After subcutaneous injections of atropia for two days to 
stimulate the heart, the bitch died. A post-mortem revealed 
a dilatation of the bulb of the aorta above the semilunar 
valves, the diameter of a silver dollar; the intima showed a 
chronic endarteritis. The other organs, including the brain, 
were normal. 
Previous to this, two cases had been reported. 
Nordheim (Zeitschrift furVeterinarkunde,i890 S. 275) men¬ 
tions ahorse with only fourteen heart-beats per minute. The 
animal likewise fell down several times during the day, rising 
each time after a lapse of five minutes. During the attack a 
decided nervous pulse was noticed ; the first heart-sound was 
loud and metallic, the second weak and imperceptible ; tem¬ 
perature 38.1 0 C.; locomotion weak and staggering ; emacia¬ 
tion rapid. During the following days the pulse was 15-16, 
and at the end of eight weeks the horse died during an at¬ 
tack. A post-mortem revealed a dilatation of the right auric- 
ulo-ventricular opening sufficiently large to admit two fists. 
Vogel describes a similar case in the horse, which some¬ 
times stopped during his work, and presented symptoms of 
vertigo. Examinations of the horse showed a pulse of 15—19 
per minute. On auscultation only one heart-sound was au¬ 
dible ; respiration accelerated : appetite good ; great emaci¬ 
ation followed. These attacks increased in frequency and 
severity even during walking, and the animal was finally de¬ 
stroyed. Post mortem : Hypertrophy of the left side of the 
heart. 
In each of these three cases the slowness of the heart-beats 
was due to an alteration in the heart; in the first, aneurism 
of the aorta ; in the second, inefficiency of the tricuspid valve ; 
and in the third, left side’s hypertrophy. These alterations, 
as would be expected, presented symptoms other than a slow 
