ROARING. 173 



of expiration. If the horse is briskly trotted on a level surface, 

 and more particularly if he is hurried up hill, or if he is suddenly 

 threatened with a stick, this peculiar sound will be heard and 

 cannot be mistaken. 



Roaring is manifest unsoundness. It proceeds from obstruc- 

 tion in some portion of the respiratory canal. 



Bamh of Coagulated Lymph in the trachea are a frequent 

 cause of roarmg. Thickening of the membrane is a more fre- 

 quent cause. In some morbid specimens this is treble its natu- 

 ral thickness, and covered with ulcerations. This is particularly 

 annoying in the upper part of the windpipe, where the passages, 

 m their natural state, are narrow. Thus it is that roaring is 

 the occasional consequence of strangles and catarrh, and other 

 affections of the superior passages. 



Chronic cough occasionally terminates in roaring. 



Tlie Disease of DraaglU- Horses generally. — There can be 

 no doubt of the fact, that the majority of roarers are draught- 

 horses, and horses of quick draught. They are not only sub- 

 ject to the usual predisposing causes of this obstruction, but 

 there is something superadded, — ^the system of tight-reining. To 

 a certain extent, the curb-rein is necessary. Without it there 

 would be scarcely any command over a wilful horse, and it 

 would need a strong arm occasionally to guide even the most 

 willing. But curbing too tight, particularly when the horse is 

 young, leads to frequent injuries to the larynx, which result in 

 inflammation, and ultimately cause roaring. 



Facts have established the hereditary predisposition to roar- 

 mg, beyond the possibility of doubt, and therefore a stallion that 

 is a roarer should never be bred from. 



It is probably useless to attempt to cur& confirmed roaring, 

 but if it is of recent date, and the seat of the obstruction can be 

 detected by auscultation, or otherwise, it might be well to bleed, 

 purge, and most certainly to blister over the aflected part. The 

 physic having set, a course of fever medicine should be com- 

 menced. It should be considered as a case of chronic inflamma- 

 tion, and to be subdued by a continuance of moderate depletory 

 measures. Probably blood should again be abstracted in less 

 quantity ; a second dose of physic should be given, and, most 

 certainly, the blister should be repeated, or kept discharging by 

 means of some stimulating unguent. The degree of success 

 which attends these measures would determine the farther pur- 

 suit of them. If no relief is obtained after a fortnight or three 

 weeks, perhaps the experimenter would ponder on another mode 

 of treatment. He would again carefully explore the whole ex- 

 tent of the trachea, and if he could yet refer the rattling or 

 wheezing to the same point at which he had before observed it, 



