BROKEN WIND 59 



CAUSES. This disease may take place without any 

 visible disordered condition in a horse. Voracious 

 feeding may produce it, or food taken hastily and in 

 too large quantities into the stomach, particularly 

 coarse hay and straw, which, by distending the stomach 

 beyond the natural limits, presses against the lungs 

 and prevents their free action. Coarse and bulky 

 food being frequently used, is extremely apt to produce 

 broken wind, from the effect just mentioned. The 

 constrained action of the lungs, from the frequently 

 distended stomach, is apt to burst the air-cells, and 

 thus lay the foundation of an incurable disease. 

 Thick wind is usually the premonitor of the dis- 

 order. 



REMEDIES. A radical cure of broken wind, I be- 

 lieve, has never taken place ; that is, after a rupture 

 of a portion of the air-cells. All that can be effected 

 is a palliation of the complaint. The food should 

 consist as much as possible of that which affords the 

 greatest nourishment in the smallest compass. Oats, 

 and particularly beans and peas, as well as carrots, 

 have this qualification. The bowels should be kept 

 gently open, and for this purpose give an altera- 

 tive powder in bran mash every second evening, 

 viz. : 



Nitrate of potash . . 3 drachms, 

 Sulphur sub. ... 2 drachms. 



Avoid exercise or labour when the stomach is full. A 

 broken-winded horse should never be pastured, as, by 

 having his stomach constantly full and distended, the 

 disease is increased. By strict attention to all these 

 rules, and by gentle, well-timed, and progressive exer- 

 cise, broken-winded horses may be rendered capable 

 of performing a fair proportion of labour, and may 



