268 EOARIXG. 



Generally speaking, howcvei-, altliougli the inflammation is no^y ap- 

 proacliing the chest, its extension into the trachea is not an unfaTourahle 

 symptom. It is spread over a more extended surface, and is not so intense 

 (jr untractable. It is involving a part of the frame less complicated, and 

 where less mischief can be effected. True, if the case is neglected, it must 

 terminate fatally ; but it is coining more Avithin reach, and more under 

 command, and, the proper means being adopted, the change is rather a, 

 favourable one. 



The disorganisations produced in the trachea are similar to some vrhich 

 have been described in the larynx. The same formation of organised 

 bands of coagulated lymph, the same thickening of membrane, diminution 

 of calibre, and foundation for roaring. 



ROAEING. 



The present will be the proper place to speak of that singular impair- 

 ment of the respiratory function recogTiised by this name. It is an unna- 

 tural, loud grunting sound made by the animal in the act of breathing 

 when in quick action or on any sudden exertion. On carefully listening 

 to the sounds it will appear that the roaring is produced in the act of in- 

 spiration and not in that of expiration. If the horse is briskly trotted on 

 a level surface, and more particularly if he is trotted up hill, or if he is 

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

 cannot be mistaken. When dishonest dealers are showing a horse that 

 roai's, but not to any great degree, they trot away gently, and as soon as 

 they are too far for the sound to be heard, show off the best paces of the 

 animal : on returning, they gradually slacken their speed when they come 

 within a suspicious distance. This is sometimes technically called ' tho 

 dealers' long trot.' 



Roaring is exceedingly unpleasant to the rider, and it is manifest un- 

 soundness. It is the sudden and violent rushing of the air through a tube 

 of diminished calibre ; and if the impediment, whatever it is, renders it so 

 difficult for the air to pass in somewhat increased action, sufficient cannot 

 be admitted to give an adequate supply of arteriahsed blood in extra- 

 ordinary or long-continued exertion. Therefore, as impairing the function 

 of respiration, although, sometimes, only on extraordinary occasions, it is 

 unsoundness. In as many cases as otherwise, it is a very serious cause of 

 unsoundness. The roarer, when hardly pressed, is often bloAvn even to the 

 hazard of suffocation, and there are cases on record of his suddenly drop- 

 ping and dying when urged to the top of his speed. 



It must not, however, be taken for granted that the roarer is always 

 worthless. There are few hunts in which there is not one of these horses, 

 Avho acquits himself very fairly in the field ; and it has occasionally so 

 happened that the roarer has been the very crack horse of the hunt : yet 

 he must be ridden with judgment, and spai'cd a little Avlien going u^^-hill. 

 There is a village in the West Riding of Yorkshire, through which a band 

 of smugglers used frequently to j^ass in the dead of night : the horse of the 

 leader, and the best horse of the troop, and on which his owner would bid 

 defiance to all pursuit, was so rank a roarer that he could be heard at a 

 considerable distance. The clattering of all the rest scarcely made so 

 much noise as the roaring of the captain's horse. When this became a 

 little too bad, and he did not fear immediate pursuit, the smuggler used to 

 halt the troop at some convenient hayrick, on the roadside, and, having 

 suffered the animal to distend his stomach Avith this dry food, as he was 

 always ready enough to do, he would remount and gallop on, and, for a 

 while, the roaring was scarcely heard. It is somewhat difficult to account 

 for this. Perhaps the loaded stomach now pressing against the diaphragm, 



