ROARING. 335 



nothing can be effected by general measures. The solution should 

 be from ten to fifteen grains in the ounce of distilled water. 



ROARING is the bugbear of the purchaser at the hammer, and 

 not without good reason. The most experienced veterinarian or 

 dealer will often fail to ascertain its existence, in spite of all the 

 artifices he may call into play. Not the slightest sound is heard 

 during a state of quiescence, or even when the horse is trotted or 

 galloped for the short distance which " the ride" will afford. The 

 blow on the side given with due artistic effect elicits no grunt, and 

 yet the animal is a confirmed roarer, and not worth a shilling per- 

 haps for the purpose to which he is intended to be devoted. On 

 the other hand, many a sound horse is condemned as a roarer for 

 giving out the obnoxious grunt ; and though there is no doubt 

 that this sign may be relied on in a great many cases, yet it can- 

 not be accepted as either negatively or positively a certain proof. 

 The only real trial is the noiseless gallop on turf or plough, when 

 the ear can detect the slightest sound, and can distinguish its ex- 

 act nature, and the precise spot from which it proceeds. Many a 

 horse will, when he is excited, make a harsh noise in his breathing, 

 accompanied by a kind of " gluck," proceeding from a spasmodic 

 flapping of the velum palati ; but on galloping him all this goes 

 off, and he may probably exhibit excellent wind Such cases I 

 have many times known, and they would be condemned as unsound 

 by those who have had little experience, or are content with a 

 careless and inefficient trial. Stallions are particularly prone to 

 make this kind of noise, and it is extremely difficult to ascertain 

 their soundness in this respect by any means which can be safely 

 resorted to. The causes of roaring are of three kinds : 1st, In- 

 flammation, which has left a thickening or ulceration of the mucous 

 membrane, or a fungous growth from it ; 2d, Paralysis of the mus- 

 cles ; and 3d, An alteration of the shape of the cartilages of the 

 larynx, produced by tight reining. 



In roaring produced by an ulcerated or thickened condition of 

 the mucous membrane, or by a fungous growth, the sound elicited 

 is always the same in proportion to the rapidity of respiration. 

 None of the ordinary expedients by which the breath is introduced 

 in a modified stream (such as a full meal, or pressure on the nos- 

 trils or windpipe), will be of much avail, and the horse roars 

 sturdily whenever his pace is sufficiently accelerated. If a horse 

 so affected can be made to grunt by the blow on the side, the 

 sound will always indicate the disease, for it will be harsh and 

 rough, and not the natural grunt of the animal. It is usually 

 supposed that no treatment can be of the slightest avail here j but 

 I believe that sometimes the continued application of nitrate of 

 silver, as recommended at page 334, would be followed by a cer- 

 tain amount of amelioration, the extent of which it is impossible 



