62 ' Roaring in Horses. 



heard, therefore, in a state of quietude."^ The Roaring or 

 Whistling sound is not continuous, but intermittent, being 

 emitted during inspiration, and scarcely, if at all, heard in 

 expiration in recent cases. 



In very bad cases of Roaring, the noise is frequently 

 heard when the animal is only a little exerted or excited, 

 and it quickly becomes increased to what may be termed 

 the maximiim intensity if the exertion be continued. It is 

 louder and more shrill, somewhat like a scream, or, as 

 Charon has it, a combination of the "renflement du 

 sommeil " and the " ralement de I'agonie ;" and it painfully 

 affects the listener, who almost instinctively realizes the 

 distress the animal must experience, even did he not 

 observe its physiognomy. The stridulous noise con- 

 tinues, either until the horse is mercifully pulled up, or he 

 suddenly stops when the dyspnoea becomes so severe that 

 asphyxia is impending. The animal seldom falls, unless 

 very high-couraged, and those who urge him when so dis- 

 tressed are either ignorant of his condition, or are too 

 brutal to consider it. 



The loudness of the sound is not so much an indication of 

 the stage the disease has reached, as its acuteness ; for there 

 are many horses which make a somewhat loud noise, 

 but which do not appear to be much distressed in their 

 breathing, and can undergo somewhat severe exertion for a 

 comparatively long period. Instances of this kind will 

 occur to all experienced horsemen, for they are not at all rare 

 among troop-horses, hunters, and even race-horses. Of the 

 latter, I need only mention the invincible horse Ormonde, 

 which, though an undoubted Roarer, and making a loud 

 noise when he won the St. Leger in 1886, yet in 1887 beat 

 two first-class horses — Minting and Bendigo — at Ascot, in 

 the most exacting of mile-and-a-half races. We are told 

 that Shadow could stay any distance, " roaring like a 

 bull." On the other hand, there is the case of the famous 

 ^ " Elemeiitary Lectures on the Veterinary Art," p. 244. 



