176 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
HYDROPS PERICARDII. 
By E. F. Thayer, V. S. 
Oil Monday last, at twenty minutes past eleven o’clock, I was 
called to see a horse belonging to Messrs. Blanchard & Atkins, of 
Newton. On examination I found the animal suffering consid¬ 
erable pain, although not of a violent character ; the head was 
depressed, the tongue hanging out of the mouth, occasionally the 
head was turned towards the abdomen, sometimes to one side, 
then to the other; apparently there was a desire to lie down, as 
the hind legs were drawn forward, but he seemed afraid to do so ; 
pulse 60 and full, but not hard. He was then in a stall. On 
being led into the floor, I attempted to examine the mouth, but 
was unable to open it, which excited a suspicion of tetanus; an 
examination of the muscles satisfied me that the apparent rigidity 
was caused by spasmodic contraction, and soon after the mouth 
could be easily opened. 
As it was evident that abdominal pain was present, I admin¬ 
istered an anodyne stimulant; before twelve o’clock, he quietly 
laid down, and after raising his head and turning it to his side a 
few times, he remained quiet. I then left him for a few minutes. 
On returning I found him easy, the hostler remarking, “ he is all 
right.” 
At the next visit, made two and one-half hours after, he was 
dead. As the symptoms were peculiar, I requested permission to 
make an autopsy ; on the following day, in company with my 
assistant, J. S. Winchester, D.Y. S., an examination was made. 
The abdominal viscera was first removed ; the general appearance 
was slightly pale, the liver and kidneys were firm, the stomach 
contained a fair quantity of food and appeared healthy; on sepa¬ 
rating the small intestine from the mesentery, about four and one- 
half feet were found to be of a reddish line; the whole tract was 
laid open, and with the above exception was in a normal condi¬ 
tion. The diaphragm was then removed ; the lungs were healthy, 
the pericardium contained nearly a pint of dark red fluid, the 
walls and valves of the heart were normal. 
