e was swollen, and
extraordinarily livid; for, although a considerable degree of
lividity, and sometimes of redness, after death, is peculiar to these
cases, we had seen none which resembled this. Hard and prominent
purple spots were observed upon the shoulders, side, and back. The
surface of the body was moderately covered with fat; the legs and
abdomen were much swollen with water, the arms more slightly. The
integuments of the thorax being cut through, the cellular membrane
discharged a serous fluid from every part; these being turned aside,
to lay bare the cartilages of the ribs, we found them completely
ossified; and having divided them, with a saw, the cavity of the
thorax was opened. 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 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; that of the pericardium held about
six ounces.

The anterior surface of the heart exhibited a considerable whiteness
of its coat over the coronary arteries. This appearance differed from
that of other cases, in being contained in the substance of the
membrane, instead of lying on its surface; and, either from this
circumstance, or from the length of time since it had existed, its
aspect was so peculiar that it might be supposed to be the first stage
of an ossification. A deposition of lymph on the heart has been
observed in every one of these cases of organic disease, and it has
existed principally over the branches of the coronary arteries, or
else near the apex of the heart, which is to be attributed to the
irritation of the membrane by the combined impulse of the heart and
coronary arteries, and to the stroke of the apex upon the ribs. This
is an appearance that, as it belongs to this complaint, might be
useful in a case otherwise dubious, if any such should occur, to aid
in deciding whether the action of the heart had been inordinate.

The heart was enlarged to double its usual size, as we judged with
confidence, for pains had been taken to examine hearts in a he