72 lfA.NUAL OF MODERN FARRIERY. 



WJien bronchitis is neglected, it produces thick wind, which 

 can never afterwards be removed. 



THICK WIND. 



Symptoms. — Thick wind is indicated by short, laborious, 

 and frequent breathings when the horse is at rest, and 

 becomes much more evident where he is employed in 

 working, whether in a cart, carriage, or as a hunter or road- 

 ster. In the latter cases, the inspirations and expirations 

 succeed each other in such rapid succession that lead us to 

 suppose the animal is about to expire through suffocation, 

 and his breathing can be heard at a considerable distance ; 

 his sides and loins exhibit marked symptoms of the difficulty 

 with which he breathes. 



Causes. — This affection for the most part owes its origin 

 to previous inflammation, and more especially from inflam- 

 mation of the bronchial tubes. While this is the case the 

 vessels exude a fluid, Avhich coagulates, and is lodged in the 

 substance of the lungs or in the bronchial tubes themselves, 

 and the inflammation accompanying the complaint naturally 

 circumscribes the dimensions of many of the air-ceUs, 

 and totally closes up others ; which must of consequence 

 lessen the capacity of the lungs for the reception of air, 

 and render it necessary to breathe more rapidly to compen- 

 sate for the limited space. This wiU be increased as the 

 animal is put in more rapid motion. 



In morbid affections of the lungs of horses, the air-cells 

 have been found completely filled with matter of a thick, grey- 

 ish, or bluish colour ; in other cases the tubes or passages 

 communicating with the air-cells have been found nearly 

 invisible from the thickening of their lining, and sometimes 

 entirely covered with a hard, waxy mucus. Other instances 

 have occurred where the internal lining of the cells them- 



