136 Roaring in Horses. 



unsuccessful that it was generally given up, and the relief 

 of horses affected with the defect was considered hopeless, 

 except through the adoption of tracheotomy, and con- 

 stantly wearing a cannula in the opening made in the wind- 

 pipe — a palliative remedy introduced by French veterina- 

 rians early in this century.^ . 



But this cannula- wearing is so objectionable in many 

 respects, that it was soon generally discontinued, and is now 

 only resorted to on rare occasions. It does not remove the 

 cause of Roaring, but is merely designed to circumvent it 

 by establishing an artificial breathing-opening below the 

 larynx and nearer the lungs. In connection with this 

 operation, Percivall, in speaking of bands of lymph causing 

 the noise, alludes to another, — a kind of will-o'-the-wisp hunt 

 — which is curious. " It is said — for its truth I cannot 

 vouch — that, once upon a time, a veterinarian, in perform- 

 ing the operation of bronchotomy on a Roarer, had the 

 good luck to cut against one of these bands of lymph, and 

 so, like a prudent man, excised it, and thus fortuitously 

 achieved a cure on the horse which he had anticipated but 

 to relieve. The circumstance was eagerly caught at as 

 opening a new and successful field to experimenters, and the 

 windpipes of Roarers were most mercilessly slit open in 

 search of similar bands. Alas ! so many disappointments 

 followed that the novel operation was abandoned."- 



^ A similar palliative to tracheotomy may be noticed here. To 

 diminish the volume of air passing to the larynx of Roarers during 

 exertion, and so to lessen the noise and distress, it has sometimes been 

 the custom to fasten a narrow strap over the nostrils, so as to prevent 

 these becoming too vridely dilated. The strap is fixed to each side of 

 the branch of the bit, and is kept in position by another strap, also 

 attached on each side to the head-stall of the bridle. To the inner 

 surface of the nostril strap, immediately over each false nostril, is 

 sometimes fixed an oval pad. When applied, these pads press upon 

 the triangular spaces formed by the point of the nasal bones and the 

 upper jaw, and in this way they prevent distension of the false 

 nostrils, as well as limit the dimensions of the true nostrils. 



2 " Hippopathology," vol. ii., p. 52. 



