90 
REPORTS OF CASES. 
horse was examined immediately after the accident, but he was 
in good condition, and no specific injury was detected. The 
horse had been out of service for thirteen days, i.e. f from the 
9th to the 22d of January, and had been working regularly for 
six days, i. e., until the 27th, when he died. During this time 
the driver said the horse was not quite normal, seeming to lag 
a little, but had shown no particular distress and had been used 
in pulling quite heavy loads. 
The dead horse was sent to the hospital of the Kansas City 
Veterinary College and autopsied on January 28. The' entire 
abdominal viscera were found to be normal, excepting that all 
organs were anaemic, i. e. } pale and bloodless. Upon opening 
the thoracic cavity, several gallons of blood escaped. The blood 
had partially coagulated, and there were deposits of coagula 
upon various parts of the pleura. There were also several areas 
containing pigment, particularly in the visceral pleura of the 
right side. After carefully removing each lung, leaving the 
heart in position, it was noted that on the right side there was 
a marked local lesion of the pleura, and on closer inspection 
it was found that the fifth to the tenth ribs, inclusive, had been 
fractured about midway between the vertebrae and sternum. 
The sixth rib had been comminuted, and one portion of detached 
bone was deflected and retained by the adhering pleura and 
projected through the visceral pleura and pericardium into the 
pericardial sac. This fragment of bone had gradually eroded 
the right auricular wall and finally punctured into the auricular 
cavity and produced fatal hemorrhage. The fracture had not 
occurred recently because the pleura and subpleural tissues had 
retracted and adhered firmly to that portion of the sixth rib 
which projected through the pleura and pericardium; and upon 
further examination of the location the fractures in the other 
ribs it was found that they wiere surrounded by thick callouses 
of granulation and fibrous tissue, which indicated that the frac¬ 
tures were of at least fifteen to twenty days’ standing. 
This case is of special interest because the animal was not 
thought to be seriously injured at the time of the accident and 
because the puncture of the auricle was gradually brought about 
as a result of the contraction and dilation of the heart that 
terminated fatally as a result of hemorrhage, which occurred 
immediately after the puncture. 
From the appearance of the coagula and the blood within 
the pleural cavity, the hemorrhage had occurred just prior to 
