The following eight cases of malignant or acute ulcerative endocarditis, the heart lesion of each of which I have the honor to present to this society, occurred in the Cook County Hospital during the fifteen months ending April 1, 1893.
I wish to extend my thanks to all the members of the staff through whose hands these cases have passed from time to time for their gracious permission to utilize the material in this way; individual mention of names would embarrass the necessary concentration aimed at in this report.
These cases illustrate well the various forms of acute ulcerative endocarditis from an etiological, clinical, as well as anatomical standpoint and they particularly emphasize the difficulties so frequently encountered in the diagnosis of this affection.
The cases are arranged in the following groups:
I. One instance of primary endocarditis of a normal value.
II. Two instances of acute ulceration developing upon