forms the immediate covering of the heart.[1] The general appearance of the heart, as to colour, flaccidity, size, and external character, should be observed before its cavities are opened; for the energy of the heart may, in some degree, be inferred from the tension of its fibres, and the red colour of its substance; on the contrary, the opposite appearances would indicate a very different condition of this vital organ, as is well illustrated in the asphyxia idiopathica of Mr. Chevalier.[2] It is not very unusual to find adhesions connecting the heart more or less closely to the pericardium; and it is perhaps worthy of remark that the length of these adhesions will furnish, in some measure, an indication of the interval that has elapsed, since the occurrence of the inflammation by which they were produced; for they become gradually elongated by the heart's motion. Dr. Baillie has noticed in his "Morbid Anatomy" an appearance which the author has frequently met with in his dissections,—a white opaque spot, as if from a thickening of the pericardium; in some cases, it is not broader than a sixpence, at other times, it equals in size that of a crown piece; it is most commonly situated on the surface of the right ventricle, and consists of an adventitious membrane formed on a portion of the pericardium, which covers the heart, and may be easily dissected off, so as to leave that membrane entire. The attention of the enquirer is directed to the subject with a view to remind him, that the appearance is one that ought not to be considered as morbid in its origin, or dangerous in its effects, In acute rheumatism a fatal translation of the disease to the heart sometimes occurs, in which case, its sur-*
