101 



explained it to me as arising from a languor and 

 debility of the pectoral muscles, consequent upon 

 the inactivity that lameness or other accident oc- 

 casions : and in proof of this, he says that he has 

 always noticed it accompanied by disease of the 

 feet or legs ; if it were always preceded by such 

 local affections, his reasoning would be plausible. 

 It is acknowledged however, to be a complaint of 

 an unusual character, and I do not pretend to offer 

 any pathological explanation of it. 



One of the most difficult lessons for a beginner 

 is to detect a slight affection of the wind : indeed 

 I doubt if any verbal explanations can much assist 

 him in his j udgment. I have ridden many a broken- 

 winded horse for weeks, and even months, before 

 I discovered it. In slight cases it is not of much 

 consequence : but in this, as in almost every disease, 

 pathology tells us that unhealthy action is pro- 

 gressive. What is only a "thick breathing" to-day, 

 may a month or two hence, settle into a chronic 

 asthmatic affection ; and more especially if in the 

 interim the work has been rapid and severe. It 

 is therefore, however slight, an unsoundness to be 

 avoided. I conclude that every body now knows 

 the seat of the disease to be the lungs, though 

 even that was for a long time a vexata qusestio : 

 the cause of it is supposed to be injudicious and 



