524 BROKEN WIND. 



ment is very obvious, the posterior ribs and abdominal walls 

 receding from their upward and forward movement by a 

 simple fall. Expiration is prolonged and difficult : it com- 

 mences by a sharp contraction and upward movement of the 

 posterior walls of the abdomen, which is suddenly arrested 

 when the act is half accomplished, and is immediately after- 

 wards finished by a slow but continuous motion upwards and 

 forwards of the abdominal muscles, as if attempting to steadily 

 squeeze the contents of the chest. The expiration is thus a 

 double movement, not, however, invariably well marked.' 



2. The cough of broken-wind is very peculiar, rather diffi- 

 cult to describe to those who have never heard it, but so 

 striking that when once recognised it is rarely mistaken. It 

 has been described as a sort of grunt, an ejaculation through 

 the upper part of the trachea ; it is short and suppressed, as if 

 arrested in the jDcrformance ; of little volume or force, appa- 

 rently from want of expulsive power, and is often accompanied 

 with forcible expulsion of gas from the anus. This cough at 

 the commencement, and throughout the continuance of the 

 affection, is apt to be paroxysmal, and to follow slight exercise, 

 the act of drinking, or any trifling disturbance. When other- 

 wise in good condition, and under no excitement, coughing 

 rarely occurs in fits, but is only heard at long intervals and in 

 solitary barks, arising from no appreciable cause. 



Both the condition of impaired respiration and continuous 

 cough are liable to variation. They are more troublesome 

 after full feeding and a liberal supply of Avater. They are 

 subject to exacerbation Avitli variations of atmospheric con- 

 ditions and temperature ; both extremes of heat and cold, 

 particularly when the latter is accompanied with wind, are 

 liable to induce aggravation of the symptoms. 



Auscultation over the thorax and region of the trachea gives 

 varying indications of altered conditions. In well-marked 

 cases, a loud sibilant tracheal noise may be distinctly heard, 

 standing by the side of the animal, without placing the car 

 over the tube. The sounds discoverable by a careful auscul- 

 tation of the chest vary much in different animals, and some- 

 times in the same animal on different examinations. In 

 nearly all cases we will find — (1) A distinct variation in sounds 

 accompanying inspiration and expiration, the former a cooing 



