ROARING. 55 



the recurrent nerve Mr. Field made tlie following experi- 

 ment : — 



" Having ascertained that the organs of respiration of a 

 horse (used for farming purposes) were sound, I cast him, and 

 laid bare the recurrent nerve of the oif-side, and passed a 

 ligature loosely around it : he was then allowed to get up, 

 and, after a few minutes, galloped severely without evincing 

 the slightest defect in his breathing. The nerve was then 

 drawn out by the ligature, and one inch and a half of it 

 excised ; and immediately, on only trotting the horse a short 

 distance, such a degree of roaring was occasioned, that, had 

 the exertion been continued, he would soon have fallen. I 

 kept this horse four years ; and, though his breathing became 

 much better, he continued a sad roarer : at the end of that 

 time I destroyed him for the larynx, which exhibited the usual 

 condition of wasted muscles on the side deprived of the 

 influence of the recurrent nerve/^ 



Roaring, hereditary. — That roarers have both bred and 

 got roarers, I believe there are instances enough on record 

 to prove ; but whether this be referable to some peculiar or 

 faulty conformation, or can be regarded as the transmission 

 of the disease itself, is a question which appears yet unsettled. 

 For my own part, I should say experience seems to teach us, 

 that, so far as conformation or liability is concerned, all 

 diseases may prove hereditary ; but I have no notion of 

 morbid action being conveyed from parent to oflPspring unless 

 through the medium of contagion or infection. That habits 

 and vices, however, are so conveyed, there cannot remain a 

 doubt. 



Mr. Goodwin, whose observations in these matters must 

 have considerable w^eight with us, has kindly informed 

 me, in answer to my inquiries, that, to the best of his recol- 

 lection, the mare called ' Mary,^ by Precipitate, who was her- 

 self a roarer, bred a filly by Sorcerer, also a roarer, and that 

 filly bred a roarer to Waterloo, called ' Black Jack.^ In opposi- 

 tion to this, however, stands the following fact, for which I am 

 likewise indebted to Mr. Goodwin : — ^ Taurus,' a celebrated 

 racer, a roarer, has covered several mares, and their produce are 



