John Collins Warren

“ Morbid changes in the organization of the heart are so frequent, as to have attracted the observation of those, who have devoted any attention to the study of morbid anatomy. Derangements of the primary organ of the circulation cannot exist without producing so great disorder of the functions of that and of other parts, as to be sufficiently conspicuous by external signs; but, as these somewhat resemble the symptoms of different complaints, especially of asthma, phthisis pulmonalis, and water in the thorax, it has happened, that each of these has been sometimes confounded with the former [1] . ”

“ Some of its species, it is to be feared, must forever remain beyond the reach of art; for it is difficult to conceive of any natural agent sufficiently powerful to produce absorption of the thickened parietes of the heart, and at the same time diminish its cavities; but we may indulge better hopes of the possibility of absorbing the osseous matter and fleshy substance deposited in the valves of the heart and coats of the aorta. A careful attention to the symptoms will enable us to distinguish the disease, in its early stages, in which we may undoubtedly combat it with frequent success. ”

“ We are indebted to Photography for enabling us to represent the remarkable slab from Greenfield, and its numerous objects, in a small space, yet with perfect accuracy. This slab is four feet seven and one-half inches in one direction, and four feet one inch transversely to this; in thickness it measures about an inch. It is composed of gray sandstone, in which the micaceous element is conspicuous, and contains many interesting impressions on both surfaces.
The most interesting surface is the inferior; and the objects are, of course, presented in relief. They are, first, two Chelonian tracks ”

“ In a quadruped, the horse for example, the hind feet are set down near the fore feet, and sometimes even strike them. Hence it must be inferred that the track in question was that of a biped, or of a quadruped which did not use its fore feet in progression, like a kangaroo. We naturally ask, What kind of biped could this have been? Evidently not a man, the size of the foot being too large to admit such a supposition; nor could it have been a bird, the number of toes and their direction not admitting this hypothesis. ”

“ No one can doubt that blood may be frequently forced through the thin membrane of the air vesicles, who considers, that in these cases the heart often acts with uncommon violence, that, when it is enlarged, it attempts to send toward the lungs more blood than their vessels can contain, and that there is commonly some obstruction to the return of blood from the lungs into the heart, from derangement either in the mitral or aortal valves, or in the aorta. ”

“ Afterwards the intermissions are shorter, and a close succession of paroxysms begins. If the progress of the complaint has been slow, and regular, the patient sinks into a state of torpor, and dies without suffering great distress. If, on the contrary, its progress has been rapid, the dyspnœa becomes excessive; the pain and stricture about the præcordia are insupportable; a furious delirium sometimes succeeds; and the patient expires in terrible agony.
Such are the symptoms, which a limited experience has enabled me to witness. Others, equally characteristic of the disease, may probably exist. ”

“ The second great division of fossil impressions is called Organic, meaning impressions made by organized bodies; the bones of animals, fishes, and vegetables.
Near one extremity of the slab of the Ornithopus Gallinaceus is an elevation, about a foot long, and between one and two inches wide, projecting from the surface nearly half an inch. It has the appearance of a round bar of iron imbedded in the rock, which is clayey sandstone. This apparent bar of iron was probably a bone, buried in the stone, now silicified and impregnated with iron; the animal matter having entirely disappeared. ”

“ Although the digestive functions are occasionally deranged, the appetite is at some periods remarkably keen. The action of the intestines is sometimes regular, but a state of costiveness [35] is common. The liver is often enlarged, probably from accumulation of blood. This distention is attended with pain, varies much, and, in all the cases I have seen, has subsided before death, leaving the coats of the liver wrinkled, flaccid, and marked with appearances of inflammation, caused by the distention and pressure against the surrounding parts. ”

“ The ostrich-tracks present a numerous natural and most remarkable group; remarkable from the great size of some species,—all of them tridactylous and pachydactylous. The ostrich of the Old World has only two toes, but this family exists in South America at the present time under the name of Rhea Americana; and tracks of an animal, probably of the same family, are found in the numerous impressions near Connecticut River,—all of them having three toes in front, and the rudiment of a fourth behind. ”

“ If an obstruction exist in either side of the heart, or in the lungs, the blood to be poured [53] into the right auricle, from the vena cava inferior, must be obstructed, its flow into that vessel from the liver will be equally checked, the thin coats of the hepatic veins and of the branches of the vena porta will yield and distend the soft substance of the liver. Hence are caused the discharges of blood from the hæmorrhoidal veins, which form one of the characteristic symptoms of the disease ”

“ Vast numbers of vegetable impressions of a distinct and beautiful appearance, and in great variety, have been found in the coal-formation, which is nearly allied to the sandstone: such are the Sigillaria, Stigmaria, Equisetaceæ, Lycopodiaceæ, Coniferæ, Cycadeæ, &c. It is sufficient to say that the number of these has been already swelled to many hundreds: we must also believe, that some of the impressions in sandstone rocks which have been assigned to other substances ought to be attributed to vegetables. We may, therefore, venture to call the vegetable impressions "phytological." ”

“ It has been seen, that the excessive action of the heart sometimes produces inflammation of the pleura and pericardium, and that the distention of the coat of the liver has the same effect upon that membrane in a slighter degree. Vesication may probably lessen those inflammations. When the stomach and bowels are overloaded, a singular alleviation of the symptoms may be produced by cathartics, and even when that is not the case, the frequent use of moderate purgative medicines is advantageous. Full doses of opium are, at times, necessary through the course of the complaint. ”

“ The most remarkable of the fish-specimens in our collection is a Cephalaspis (?) : this fish is found in the specimen containing tracks of the Brontozoum Gracillimum, and traces of a turtle or tortoise. This fossil was discovered in the upper layer of the old red sandstone of Scotland, and had been mistaken by some for a trilobite: to us it appeared to be a Limulus, but further observation leads us to believe it to be a Cephalaspis. ”

“ The functions of the abdominal viscera are not much deranged. The appetite varies, though it is commonly good; the intestinal evacuations, and the menstrual discharges, are regular; the urine is turbid, and so small in quantity as sometimes to produce strangury. The abdomen and inferior extremities are swelled, and the distention produces an uneasiness in the former, and pain and a livid colour about the gastroenemii muscles in the latter. The pulse is hard, without strength or fulness, slightly intermittent, variable, and irregular ”

“ There is no circumstance more remarkable in the course of this complaint, than the alternations of ease and distress. At one time the patient suffers the severest agonies, assumes the most ghastly appearance, and is apparently on the verge of death; in a day or a week after, his pain leaves him, his [36] appetite and cheerfulness return, a degree of vigour is restored, and his friends forget that he has been ill. The paroxysms occasionally recur, and become more frequent, as the disease progresses. ”

“ H. D. Rogers, that the perfection of the surface containing fossil footmarks is often attributable to a micaceous deposit. The layers of sandstone have been formed by deposits from sea-water, dried in succession; such layers are also seen in the roofing slate. These deposits on the shores of the ocean, having in a soft condition received the impressions of the feet of birds, other animals, vegetables, and also of rain-drops, under favorable circumstances dried, hardened, and formed a rock of greater or less solidity. ”

“ The cortical [15] substance ran deep into the medullary part of the brain. The ventricles contained about double the usual quantity of water; their parts were all remarkably well defined. The vessels of the pia mater, over the corpora striata, were unusually injected with blood. The velum interpositum was very firm; the plexus choroides uncommonly thick, but pale; the opening from the right to the left ventricle large. The vessels of the brain were generally not much filled with blood.
The blood appeared every where fluid, except in some portions of the lungs, and in the cavities of the heart. ”

“ The number of toes in existing birds varies from two to five. In the fossil bird-tracks, the most frequent number is three, called tridactylous; but there are instances also of four or tetradactylous, and two or didactylous. The number of articulations corresponds in ornithichnites with living birds: when there are four toes, the inner or hind toe has two articulations, the second toe three, the third toe four, the outer toe five. The impressions of the articulations are sometimes very distinct, and even that of the skin covering them. ”

“ The cellular membrane, inside the thorax, about the mediastinum, had not so bloody an appearance as we witnessed in the preceding cases, nor were the lungs, either externally or internally, so dark coloured as usual, though they were much darker, firmer, and more filled with [47] blood, than is common in subjects of other diseases. The lungs of the left side adhered closely to the pleura costalis, and those of the right were tied by loose and membranous adhesions; beside which there was no appearance of disease about them. The cavity of the pleura did not contain any water ”