This case is probably one of ossification of the cardiac muscle; in the same connection Battolini says that the heart of Pope Urban VII contained a bone shaped like the Arab T.
Among the older writers we frequently read of hairs, worms, and snakes being found in the cavities of the heart.

The Ephemerides, Zacutus Lusitanus, Pare, Swinger, Riverius, and Senac are among the authorities who mention this circumstance.

The deception was possibly due to the presence of loose and shaggy membrane attached to the endocardial lining of the heart, or in some cases to echinococci or trichine.

A strange case of foreign body in the heart was reported some time since in England.

The patient had swallowed a thorn of the Prunus spinosa (Linn.), which had penetrated the esophagus and the pericardium and entered the heart.