In the case of a man 63 years old, the clinical diagnosis being pulmonary emphysema, bronchitis, albuminuria, and lobular pneumonia, Carl Springer1 made the following interesting observations: Immediately below the bifurcation of the trachea, the anterior wall of the esophagus presented a diverticulum, at the summit of which was a small opening which led into a cavity situated below and to the right of the bifurcation of the trachea, and having a diameter of 2.5 cm., the contents being purulent material.
The superior vena cava presented a friable, grayish-red discolored thrombotic mass, on the intima of that part situated over the cavity mentioned. There were numerous metastatic abscesses in the lungs, the lungs containing staphylococci which stained with Gram's method, and short bacilli destained by Gram's method. Sections passing through the wall of the vena cava at the site of the thrombus showed an intense inflammation and numerous heaps