140 Roaring in Horses. 



have cured twenty-two of thirty Roarers operated upon. 

 Of the remainino: eii?ht, five Avere reheved somewhat — one 

 of them having paralysis of both sides of the larynx, and, 

 consequently, both aryt^enoid cartilages were removed ; two 

 died from blood-poisoning {septilccmnia), or doubtful phleg- 

 monous laryngitis ; in another case there was a relapse in 

 ten months ; and the eighth, during recovery, had to be 

 destroyed because of a fractured limb. 



In the cases in which a noise still remained, this was 

 much less than before, and the breathinsf was so much 

 relieved that work could be performed. The result was 

 more favourable in cart than in riding horses. 



For many years. Roaring in horses had received much of 

 my attention, and the practicability of its prevention and 

 cure by medical treatment has been tested for a long time. 

 So long ago as 1878, the feasibility of successful operation 

 on the larynx for the removal of the obstruction to respir- 

 ation was suggested by an accident which happened to an 

 aged horse, in which the thyroid cartilage was fractured. 

 In attempting to remed}^ this injury, the cavity of the larynx 

 was exposed, and I was astonished at the impunity with 

 which its interior could be manipulated. Operations upon 

 the larynx of the horse were previously unknown, I be- 

 lieve, in this country — at least, I can find no record of 

 them, and there seems to have been a dread of opening 

 it ; consequently, disease in it could not be observed 

 until after death, and if polypi or tumours w^ere present 

 in it or in its immediate neighbourhood, there they 

 remained, notwithstanding the distress the horse may 

 have experienced. The revelation afforded by the accident 

 alluded to, induced me to attempt the removal of Roaring 

 by the simplest and safest operation possible ; but, like those 

 who had preceded me in this business, though not then cog- 

 nisant of any except the Giinthers' attempts, the way had 

 to be felt, as all was novel and strange, so little being 

 known of the physiology of the horse^s larynx, or of its 



