_Post-mortem Examination._--The general anasarca gave the body a bulky
appearance. On raising the sternum, the ribs seemed very firm and
unyielding. The lungs were of a dark blue colour, and seemed at first
appearance to fill completely both sides of the chest. Towards the
sternal end of the ribs, on the left side, three or four of the
substernal or mammary glands were found enlarged and filled with black
fluid. The pleura pulmonalis had (where there wore no adhesions)
interspersed over it patches of false exudation, _of a dark brown
colour_. The lungs adhered extensively to the pleura costalis, and from
the character of the adhesions, they were evidently of some years'
standing. In both sides of the chest there was effusion to a
considerable extent of a dark-coloured fluid, resembling porter in
appearance. On removing the left lung, which was difficult, from the
strong adhesive bands, it seemed, from its weight and softness, to
contain a fluid; and on making a longitudinal section of both lobes, a
large quantity of thick, black matter, similar to black paint, gushed
from the opening, exposing an almost excavated interior of both lobes.
The carbonaceous matter contained was in quantity about an English pint,
and the lung, when emptied, became quite flaccid, and very light. The
air-cells of this lung were entirely destroyed, or nearly so, and one of
the divisions of the left bronchus opened abruptly into the cavity at
the upper part. Both lobes were so completely adherent to each other,
from inflammatory action, as to form a continuous sac, containing the
above fluid. On examining the internal structure of the cavity, the
parenchymatous substance which formed its walls presented a rugged and
irregular appearance, resembling a sponge hollowed out, and infiltrated
with black paint.
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