38 



We shall shortly see that in some cases where heredity plays an activ 

 part, chronic couo^h degenerates into roaring or broken-wind ; and for this 

 very reason, if for no other, no horse affected with cough can during the 

 •continuance of the complaint be passed as sound. 



We will now turn to the consideration of grunting. If a horse when 

 struck or suddenly moved, makes during expiration a grunting sound he is 

 termed a grunter. The emission of this noise is always to be regarded with 

 suspicion, as it generally accompanies whistling and roaring. It may or may 

 not depend upon diseases of the upper part of the breathing tube. In some 

 cases a horse may grunt from pain alone, when suffering from pleurisy or 

 from a neuralgic affection of the respiratory muscles of the chest, called 

 pleurodynia, and other diseases. Many cart horses and large horses of any 

 breed are apt to grunt, being nevertheless perfectly sound in their wind ; and, 

 indeed, if fed for a time on heavy bulky food, any horse may become a 

 grunter from this cause alone. If a grunter stands the tests used to detect 

 roaring without making any noise in his breathing, he is, according to 

 Professor Williams, and in the writers' opinion also, to be considered as 

 sound. 



Whistling is of two varieties, soft or moist, and dry or hard. The 

 former occurs in acute inflammation of the larynx, when much exudation is 

 thrown out in that structure, and also when the lining membrane is much 

 swelled. In the first condition it is a wheezing noise, and is mostly 

 diminished when the horse coughs. In the second case it is louder during 

 inspiration than during expiration. 



Soft whistling constitutes temporary unsoundness. It is in many cases 

 unsafe to hazard a decided opinion for some days or even weeks, until the 

 thickening of the lining membrane and the relaxed condition of the vocal 

 cords have had time to regain their normal state. Dry whistling is, 

 iiccording to some authorities, to be regarded as a modification of roaring. 

 Others, however (among whom is the writer), are of opinion that whistling 

 and roaring are due to difi"erent states of the throat, and that they may exist 

 independently of each other. Dry whistling, like roaring, is a sound made 

 during inspiration. It is . due to diminished calibre of the larynx, or 

 sometimes of its continuation downwards, owing to thickening of the lining 

 membrane, distortion of the neck through tight-reigning, the presence of a 

 fixed tumour in the air tube, or any other cause which diminishes the size of 

 the passage through which the air escapes to and from the lungs. Whistling, 

 though loudest in inspiration, is by no means absent during expiration. 

 Dry whistling, like roaring, is often traceable to hereditary influence, and it 

 constitutes unsoundness. 



ROARING. 



Although few complaints of the horse are so well known as roaring, yet 

 there are not many regarding the nature and cause of which more erroneous 

 notions are generally prevalent. Roaring is a loud unnatural sound made 



