Page:Transactions of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association, volume 1.djvu/161

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137

and, upon raising the sternum, the right lung was almost wholly covered with a thick secretion of lymph, which gave it the appearance of ulceration, and upon cutting into it, this state of the lung clearly manifested confirmed phthisis pulmonalis. The heart, however, was the main object of our inquiry, which we found quite free within its pericardium, with rather more of the liquor pericardia than usual. The heart itself was greatly enlarged; the enlargement was found to be greatest of the right ventricle, having the auriculo-ventricular valve greatly contracted, so that, instead of the passage being of the usual size of a shilling, it would scarcely admit of t.he passing of a six-pence, and not even this unless passed through edge-ways, presenting the appearance of a long narrow slit, rather than that of a circular opening. The walls, too, of the left ventricle, were twice as thick as any I had seen before in the healthy state; the chordw tendinew were as large as goose quills, and more white than natural. The right lung adhered strongly to the pleura costalis, and was of a dark colour, full of tubercles and ulcerations, so that it must have been nearly impervious to the transmission of air. Respiration Was consequently performed almost entirely by the left lung, which was quite free from disease. The dissection was very satisfactory to me, and not only confirmed the previous opinion of both Dr. Williams and myself, of the cause of the disease, but convinced me that similar appearances would have been found in Dr. Brown's patient, Mr. H. P. I have only now to add two cases, which apply to my third position.