412 
FR. BLAZEKOVTC. 
asates in the space of the rupture, resulting in apoplexy of the 
heart. This much can be asserted : that spontaneous rupture of 
the heart, if the heart be perfectly sound, scarcely ever happens. 
In rupture of the heart an anomaly of the muscular substance of 
the heart, or a predisposing consecutive disease is always present. 
Lacerations of the normal heart are due to traumatic causes or to 
intense organic effects. 
Hardening and softening of the heart have been sufficiently 
discussed in hypertrophy; only this needs to be mentioned here, 
that in all cases where softening or induration of the muscle of 
the heart is present, rupture of the heart is also to be feared. 
Foreign Bodies in the Heart. 
It occurs oftener in private than in clinical practice; particu¬ 
larly is this the case in rural districts where draught animals are 
used for all possible services, that after accidental swallowing 
of hard, pointed and sharp objects, such as nails, needles, pieces 
of glass, metal, etc., which from the stomachs are apt to injure 
the pericardium and muscular substance of the heart. These for¬ 
eign bodies can gradually pass from the stomach into the muscu¬ 
lar substance of the heart, or if of considerable length, they con¬ 
tinually irritate and injure the pericardium and heart. The post¬ 
mortem examination discloses, besides the enclosed foreign body, 
a more or less extended laceration, always proceeding from with¬ 
out toward the interior. , If the laceration be partial and affecting 
a few layers of the muscle only, then the rent is found more on 
the outer surface of the heart. Smaller objects, such as needles 
and the like, can remain enclosed in the heart’s substance without 
injury. 
New Formation and Degeneration. 
New formations on the heart are in general rare, nevertheless 
they occur and give rise, during life, especially in horses, to 
phenomena which could be taken for pulmonary emphysema. 
Degeneration of the heart is observed more frequently since 
it appears as the result of the inflammation and its issue. Most 
prominent is the fatty degeneration with new formation of fatty 
tissue. This appears in two forms, the excessive production of 
