DISEASES OF THE HEAHT IN DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
290 
cavity of the chest, wherein the apex of the heart projected 
through an opening in the diaphragm. 
Defective form of the heart, without other established 
changes, is also an innate abnormity. In such cases the heart ap¬ 
pears cylindrical, conical and blunted. 
It is much more difficult to trace the innate defects in the 
interior of the heart, and however insignificant they appear, they 
still have an eminent influence upon the whole circulation of the 
blood. The following abnormal orifices in the ventricle of the 
heart, namely: Defective retention of the arterial orifices, imper¬ 
fect closing of their orifices, imperfection in the position of the 
auricle and ventricle, insufficiency of the valves, thickening of the 
same,expansion and contraction of the orifices,total closing or open¬ 
ing of the aorta, entire lack of, or mere rudimentary existing valves, 
growing together of the same or their edges, callous changes and 
fatty degeneration of the muscle, are to be regarded as such de¬ 
fective cessation and division of the great vessels. Foetal myocar¬ 
ditis aud foetal cyanose may be mentioned under this head. 
(B) Pathological Anatomy of Acquired Diseases of the 
Heart .—The changes found in the heart and pericardium at a 
post-mortem examination are of various kinds, and is evidence of 
previously existing serious heart diseases, which were often over¬ 
looked during life time. The frequent accounts relating to the 
changes of the heart, in the yearly clinio&l reports, show that 
they are not rare occurrences. A post-mortem examination of an 
existing abnormity in one or another part of the heart affords an 
opportunity of acquiring knowledge, not only of the direction and 
course of the disease, but also of the possible existing complica¬ 
tions. The post-mortem examination will also inform us that the 
consecutive diseases, such as diseases of the liver, spleen, kindey, 
etc., if not exclusively, certainly in the majority of cases, are 
not the cause of the heart diseases, but mostly the result of heart 
affection. However, it shall not be asserted that diseases of the 
above mentioned organs cannot generate diseases of the heart. 
It is as necessary at a post mortem examination as at the 
diagnosis of a living animal, to determine certain limits in which 
the existing disease developes and which parts of the heart are 
