78 



HORSE— DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



it the nature of the case may generally be 

 easily made out. The disease often ac- 

 companies strangles, although in nine 

 cases out of ten it is overlooked by the 

 careless attendant. Very commonly, how- 

 ever, it makes its ravages in so insidious a 

 manner that no suspicion is felt of its 

 presence, until the horse begins to make a 

 noise, though he must in all probability 

 have shown by the cough peculiar to the 

 complaint that it has been working its 

 way for some weeks at least. Such cases 

 chiefly occur in the training stable, and 

 are due, according to our belief, to the 

 enormous quantity of oats which it is now 

 the fashion to give to colts from the earli- 

 est period of their lives, increased to 

 seven and eight feeds a day during the 

 second year. Continued spirit-drinking 

 has precisely the same effect upon the 

 human being, and the harsh, stridulous 

 cough of the confirmed drunkard marks 

 the existence of ulceration of the larynx, 

 in the only way which he will allow it to 

 be displayed, for he is not, like the horse, 

 made to exert his powers of running, 

 whether his wind is good or bad. There 

 is, of course, a considerable difference be- 

 tween the two diseases, but there is suffi- 

 cient analogy between them to explain 

 why the stimulus of over-corning should 

 affect the larynx in preference to any 

 other part. It would be difficult to show 

 the connection between the two in any oth- 

 er way, beyond the simple fact that roaring 

 has become general in an exact propor- 

 tion to the prevalence of the present 

 fashion of feeding. The advocates of the 

 plan will say that though the two have 

 come in together, yet it is merely a coinci- 

 dence, and not a consequence, the one of 

 the other; but if it can be shown that in 

 man a similar cause produces a similar ef- 

 fect, the argument is strengthened to such 

 a degree as to be almost unanswerable. 

 But whatever may be the cause there can 

 be no doubt that the treatment is most 

 troublesome and often baffles the skill of 

 the most accomplished veterinarian. Blis- 

 tering is not so useful as counter-irritation 

 by a seaton, which must be inserted in 

 the loose skin beneath the jaw, as close 

 as possible to the larynx. This alone will 

 do much towards the cure, but no pains 

 must be spared to assist its action by a 

 cooling regimen, consisting of bran 

 mashes, and if in the spring or summer, 



green food, or in the winter, carrots. 

 Corn must be entirely forbidden, and the 

 kidneys should be encouraged to act free- 

 ly by two or three drachms of nitre given 

 in the mash twice a day. When the case 

 is very intractable, the nitrate of silver 

 may be applied to the part itself by 

 means of a sponge fastened to a piece of 

 flexible cane or whalebone. The mouth 

 should then be kept open with the ordi- 

 nary balling iron, and the sponge rapidly 

 passed to the situation of the top of the lar- 

 ynx, and held there for a second, and then 

 withdrawn. We have succeeded in curing 

 two obstinate cases of chronic laryngitis by 

 this plan, but some little risk is incurred, 

 as in one of them imminent symptoms of 

 suffocation presented themselves, but soon 

 went off. We should not, therefore, recom- 

 mend the application excepting in cases 

 where all other means have failed, and in 

 which there is reason to believe that the 

 patient is likely to become a permanent 

 roarer or whistler. The nitrate of silver 

 has great power in producing resolution of 

 inflammation in mucous surfaces, and in 

 this disease little or nothing can be effect- 

 ed by general measures. The solution 

 should be from ten to fifteen grains in the 

 ounce of distilled water. 



Roaring is the bugbear of the purchas- 

 er at the hammer, and not without good 

 reason. The most experienced veterina- 

 rian or dealer will often fail to ascertain 

 its existence, in spite of all the artifices 

 he may call into play. Not the slightest 

 sound is heard during a state of quies- 

 cence, or even when the horse is trotted 

 or galloped for the short distance which 

 " the ride" will afford. The blow on the 

 side given with an artistic effect elicits no 

 grunt, and yet the animal is a confirmed 

 roarer, and not worth a shilling perhaps 

 for the purpose to which he is intended to 

 be devoted. On the other hand, many a 

 sound horse is condemned as a roarer for 

 giving out the obnoxious grunt; and 

 though there is no doubt that this sign 

 may be relied on in a great many cases, 

 yet it cannot be accepted as either nega- 

 tively or positively a certain proof. The 

 only real trial is the noiseless gallop on 

 turf or plough, when the ear can detect 

 the slightest sound, and can distinguish 

 its exact nature, and the precise spot from 

 which it proceeds. Many a horse will, 

 when he is excited, make a harsh noise in 



