HEART DISEASE. 
749 
ORIGINAL ARTICLES. 
HEART DISEASE, 
By J. A. Couture, V.S., Quebec. 
Specially Written for the American Veterinary Review. 
Case III— pericarditis in a cow—death. 
The readers of the Review may still bear in mind the cau¬ 
tion that was given them in the November number, both by 
Dr. Dairymple and myself, with regard to the diagnosis of 
heart diseases in the horse on account of their liability, if the 
practitioner is not always on his guard, to be 'mistaken for 
pulmonary diseases. The same caution has to be given with 
regard to heart disease in cattle, but the mistake will bear 
either on the digestive organs or on the pulmonary organs. 
And heart disease in these animals being a great deal less fre¬ 
quent than in the horse ; on the other hand, diseases of the di¬ 
gestive organs being very common, the practitioner is sure to 
be misled and make a false diagnosis when the disease is at 
the outset. When one meets a class of disease every day, or 
almost every day, one becomes so expert in the matter that 
at length diagnosis is made instantaneously. Such is the 
case with us with regard to heart diseases in the horse, but 
it is an entirely different matter with regard to these diseases 
in cattle, which are only met with at long, very long intervals. 
The case which is to be reported, besides being interesting 
for many reasons, will illustrate this remark: 
History of the case .—I was called, on April 27, 1894, to see 
a young Ayrshire cow, four years old, having had her second 
calf about two months previously. A few days after calving, 
she had to walk thirteen miles to come to Quebec, where she 
had been sold to the Sellery convent. The day following her 
arrival she was noticed to breathe frequently ; the seller’s at¬ 
tention was called to this fact, but he said that it was nervous¬ 
ness. She gave from eight to twelve quarts of milk, and was 
considered to be a fairly good cow, but she was affected now 
and then with shivering and loss of appetite. These slight 
