272 liNFLUEXZA. 



can be associated, in point of time, mtli breakiug-in to harness, or the 

 coachman or proprietor has been accustomed to rein the animal in 

 too tightly or too ci^nelh*, or the sire was a roarer, it is almost useless 

 to have anything to do with the case. But if it is of rather recent 

 date, and following closely on some disease with which it can be clearly 

 connected, careful examination of the patient may be commenced. Is there 

 cough ? Can any heat or tenderness be detected about the larynx or 

 trachea ? Is there in every part the same uniform rushing noise ; or, on 

 some particular spot, can a more violent bi^eathing, a wheezing or 

 whistling, or a rattling and guggling, be detected ? Is that wheezing or 

 rattling either confined to one spot, or less sonorous as the ear recedes from 

 that spot above or below ; or is it diffused over a considerable portion of 

 the trachea ? 



In these cases it would be fair to purge, and most certainly to blister. 

 The ear Avill guide to the part to which the blister should be applied. The 

 physic having set, a course of fever medicine should be commenced. It 

 should be considered as a case of chronic inflammation, and to be subdued 

 by a continuance of moderate depletory measures. 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. 



Of late years the actual cautery has been emj)loyed, and firing hors3s' 

 throats for roaring is at the present time a very fashionable remedy with 

 some practitioners, but it possesses no particular curative power, further 

 than being a more powerful counter-irritant than the common blister 

 ointment, but has the disadvantage of causing a permanent blemish. The 

 degree of success which attends these measm-es would determine the 

 farther pursuit of them. N"o one would eagerly undertake a case of roar- 

 ing ; but, having undertaken it, he should give the measures that he 

 adopts a fair trial, remembering that, in every chronic case like this, the 

 only hope of success depends on perseverance. 



The terms wheezing and whistling are simply varieties of roaring, and 

 express the noise made in the act of respiration. Wheezing is a sound not 

 unlike that of an asthmatic person when hurried, and sometimes arises 

 from impediments in the air-passages of the lungs. It can be heard at all 

 ■ times, even when the horse is at rest in the stable. The whistler utters a 

 shriller sound than the wheezer, but only when in exercise, and that of 

 some continuance. A sudden motion will not always produce it. A sharp 

 gallop up-hill will generally detect the whistler, although in some instances, 

 when slight, it will be heard more distinctly in slow paces. It usuall}'- 

 proceeds from the same causes as roaring and frequently terminates in 

 that disease. Both these states constitute unsoundness. 



When the obstruction seems to be principally in the nose, the horse 

 loudly puffs and blows, and the false nostrils are dilated to the utmost, 

 while the flanks are comparatively quiet. This animal is said to be a 

 High-blower. With all his appai^ent distress, he often possesses great 

 speed and endurance. The sound is unpleasant, biit the lungs may be 

 perfectly sound. 



INFLUENZA, OR EPIDEMIC CATAREH. 



Various names are given to this disease — influenza, distemper, catarrhal 

 fever, and epidemic catarrh — its usual history is as follows. 



Ir the spring of the year — a cold wet spring— and that succeeding to 

 a mild winter, and especially among young horses, and those in high 

 condition, or made up for sale, or that have been kept in hot stables, or 

 exposed to the usual causes of inflammation, this disease principally prevails. 

 Those that are in moderate work, and that are correspondingly fed. 



