7. =Right Heart.= Note amount of blood contained in right chambers (over-distended in death from asphyxiation, pneumonia, etc.), also its consistence (thick, thin, watery), color (light, dark, red, yellowish, chocolate, purplish), blood-clots (size, color, cruor, lardaceous clots, chicken-fat clots, pus-like clots, consistence, moisture), presence of free fat, gas or air, diffusion of hæmoglobin, presence of bile-pigment in blood. Note also amount and character of blood in venæ cavæ. The size of auricular and ventricular cavities should be estimated, noting condition of trabeculæ and papillary muscles (atrophic, flattened, hypertrophic, fatty, fibroid, calcification). The musculature of the ventricular walls is examined as to its thickness (normally the right ventricle wall is 4-5 mm. thick). Postmortem contraction should not be mistaken for hypertrophy. The color of the heart-muscle normally is pinkish in infants, flesh-red in adults, and brownish-red in old age and in atrophy following compensatory hypertrophy (brown atrophy). Under normal conditions the muscle is translucent. In cloudy swelling the heart-muscle appears cloudy and opaque as if cooked. Fatty degeneration appears as yellowish, opaque patches or streaks (“tiger-heart”), particularly in the papillary muscles and trabeculæ. In severe intoxications the process may be diffuse, and the entire musculature appear cream-colored or yellowish and opaque. The consistence may be firm, flabby, soft, putty-like; localized areas may be caseous. Infarcted areas are soft when fresh (myomalacia cordis). The consistence is increased in atrophy, fibroid heart, chronic interstitial myocarditis, syphilis, etc. Cloudy swelling and fatty degeneration make the heart muscle softer and more friable. In postmortem decomposition the heart as a whole becomes soft. Normally the endocardium should be gray, delicate, thin and transparent. The chordæ tendinæ are long, narrow and delicate. Note thickenings of endocardium and chordæ tendinæ, presence of thrombi (dry, brick-red, yellowish or gray, firmer than clots and adherent to the endocardium, often show simple softening, which should not be mistaken for pus; may be parietal, polypoid, valvular or free). The endocardium may be stained diffusely yellow (bile) or brown (methæmoglobin). Creamy or yellowish opacities of the intima are due to fatty degeneration.