Glanders, abscess, melanosis, tubercle, polypus, nœvus,
parasites—echinococcus, cysticercus tenuicollis, cysticercus
cellulosa, trichina, sarcocyst, filaria immitis, strongylus subulatus,
strongylus vasorum.
1st. =Deposits of Glanders.= In many cases of glanders and farcy in
horses the specific product is deposited in the heart as well as in
other internal organs. Such deposits are small but numerous,
infiltrating the muscular tissue; their cut surface is dry, finely
granular and of a yellowish white color.
2d. =Abscesses= are sometimes formed in the heart from the colonization
of microbes from suppurating surfaces.
3d. =Cancer of the heart= has been noticed chiefly in dogs by Leblanc.
It occurs only consecutively to cancer in other parts of the body, yet
it has sometimes acquired considerable dimensions and interfered
materially with the movements of the heart.
4th. =Melanosis= of the heart has been repeatedly noticed in the horse.
Some if not all such cases should be classed with cancers, as these
internal deposits of black coloring matter in solipedes, have, in our
experience, mostly possessed malignant characters, though they are
usually simple tumors as developed in the skin of the horse. These black
masses usually project beneath the pericardium or endocardium.
5th. =Tuberculous deposits= have been met with in the substance of the
heart in cases in which the lungs or other organ were the seat of this
disease.
6th. The _fibrous growths_ or _polypi_ due to the deposition and
organization of fibrinous material from the blood have been referred to
under _endocarditis_.
7th. Gamgee reports the existence of a vascular tumour of the right
ventricle of a horse in the museum of the Turin Veterinary School. It
consisted of varicose veins ramifying beneath the endocardium which in
its turn was healthy.
8th. The =parasites found in the heart= are various, _a._ One, the
=Echinococcus Veterinorum=, has been repeatedly found in the substance
of the heart or projecting from its inner or outer surface. _b._
Another, the =cysticercus tenuicollis=, has been met with in the
pericardial sac of a calf (Reed). _c._ A third, the =cysticercus
cellulosa= infests the muscular structure of the heart of measly pigs.
_d._ The heart like other voluntary muscles of hogs occasionally
contains =trichina spiralis=. _e._ =Rainey’s cysts= (=sarcocysts=) are
microscopic ovoid bodies usually found in the hearts of oxen and other
animals. _f._ A round worm, =filaria immitis=, first described as
filaria papillosa hæmatica by Delafond and Gruby, lives in the blood of
the dog, is one millimeter thick by fifteen to 30 centimeters long. It
may obstruct the pulmonary artery (Serres) or the mitral orifice
(Silvestre). It may cause various nervous disorders and even sudden
death. Its mode of entrance is unknown. _g._ =Strongylus Subulatus=, 1
to 2 mm. long by 70 to 90 μ. in thickness was found in numbers in a
nodule of a dog’s lung, and the dorsal vein of the penis of a dog
(Leisering). _h._ =Strongylus Vasorum= in the right auricle and
ventricle of a dog, in pea-like blood clots. It is 14 to 21 mm. long by
1 m. in thickness (Serres).