BRONCHITIS. I 1 1 



from hereditary or other causes will account for it; as in the 

 human subject, the horse is more liable to an attack of bronchitis 

 in youth and old age, but at the same time there is no doubt that 

 hygienic surroundings are frequently responsible for attacks of 

 lung disease among mature animals that would come under neither 

 category; when stabled in close, hot, ill-ventilated habitations, 

 where under the mistaken apprehension that heat is a necessity, 

 horses are continually breathing a vitiated atmosphere, and there- 

 after in course of ordinary work, or special exercise for training 

 purposes are either allowed to stand about in a cold northeast 

 wind or inhale a cold, moist wind during violent exercise, it is 

 not to be wondered if the bronchial tubes already surcharged with 

 blood receive such a shock that the normal balance of the circula- 

 tion is not restored and consequently that the air tubes are ren- 

 dered exceptionably susceptible; this in itself will account for 

 many cases of bronchitis that under no other condition would be 

 developed, hence the importance of providing healthy surround- 

 ings for all classes of horses in places occupied during periods of 

 rest or when not actively employed. Comniofi cold is in a large 

 proportion of instances the precursor of this fatal disease and it is 

 impossible to exercise too much caution in order to prevent 

 further developments when once the mucous membrane of the 

 respiratory tract shows signs of becoming affected, for unless 

 proper care is taken, there is no telling how far it may spread nor 

 how serious may be the ultimate consequences; it is a very com- 

 mon practice for the human subject to trifle with a simple cold 

 and to make the remark " oh if s only a little cold, it zvill soon go 

 off,'' but 'erelong, in numerous instances, bronchitis and pneu- 

 monia follow and death supervenes, much to the surprise of those 

 who are left to mourn the loss of a life that with due precaution 

 need not have been sacrificed; the same applies to animals, espec- 

 ially such as are coddled up in a hot stable one hour and the next 

 exposed to the biting blast of a keen nor'easter with less clothing 

 and bodil}' protection on than when in the stuffy stable. 



It has already been observed that the bronchial tubes are con- 

 tinuous, gradually dividing and subdividing, something like the 

 branches of a tree, until the smallest tubes are so small of calibre 

 that they cannot be discerned b}^ the naked eye. Now, at first 

 sight it may seem somewhat singular, but it is nevertheless the 



