CHAP. ii. ROARING IN HORSES. 567 



and from the lungs. Mares suffer less from the disease than stallions 

 and geldings, and ponies are rarely affected by it. The liability to it 

 increases with the height of the animal. Hearing may depend upon a 

 variety of causes. Some of them are temporary and sooner or later 

 pass away, but the most common cause of the malady that which is 

 accountable for 95 per cent, of the cases we meet with is of a chronic 

 and permanent character. 



Roaring may arise out of anything which interrupts the flow of air 

 along the air channels. Hence it occurs from tumour in the nostrils, 

 the throat, or the windpipe, or from pressure upon the latter in some 

 part of its course along the neck. The form, however, in which we 

 mostly meet with it is the result of paralysis and wasting of the 

 muscles of the larynx. As a consequence, the cartilages which 

 compose the latter fall in, and reduce the size of the respiratory 

 passage, hence the noise. It is difficult to say how the paralysis is 

 brought about. We know it frequently results from colds, influenza, 

 and strangles, but there are many instances of its on-coming without 

 any obvious disturbing cause. Hunters turned out to " summer," 

 perfectly free from defect in the breathing apparatus, have returned 

 confirmed roarers. The late Professor Spooner used to refer some 

 cases to the excitement and fear induced by railway journeys. What- 

 ever may be the exciting cause the hereditary nature of the disease is 

 now well established, and mares and stallions who suffer from it 

 should not be used for breeding purposes. Horses of a certain type of 

 conformation would seem to be more liable to it than others. Such 

 are animals with a long neck, long legs, light middle, small sheath, 

 and whose head is set on at right angles with the neck, and especially 

 if these characters are associated with an irritable temperament. The 

 prevailing system of getting young horses up for show purposes, and 

 letting them down again, is a fruitful cause of the disease. 



Where roaring arises out of laryngeal paralysis but little benefit is 

 to be expected from treatment. The horse should be kept in good 

 condition by liberal feeding and a fair amount of daily work. The 

 food should consist chiefly of corn, and whatever hay is allowed should 

 be given at night. Long periods of rest and low diet are prejudicial 

 to roarers, and tend to aggravate the malady. 



When the disease first appears, iron and strychnia in small repeated 

 doses may be given for a fortnight at a time during two or three 

 months, with an interval of a few days between each period. If the 

 breathing becomes seriously embarrassed, and the services of the 

 animal interfered with, the operation of tracheotomy may be resorted 

 to. This consists in making an artificial opening in the wind-pipe, 

 and introducing a tube into it through which the animal may breathe. 



It sometimes occurs that noisy breathing follows upon a cold in 

 consequence of slight thickening of the membrane lining the air 

 passages. Here the application of mustard to the throat every two or 

 three days, and the administration of iodide of potassium in two or 

 three drachm doses, will effect a speedy restoration to health. The 

 operation of opening the throat and taking out the displaced portion 



