Predisposing Causes of Roaring. 49 



It cannot be well founded, for the evidence I have collected 

 does not in any way corroborate it, neither does that of 

 Gharon. That authority gives statistics of troop-horses 

 purchased in France during a period of ten years (from 

 1871 to 1880) ; these were 12,538 geldings, of which 206 

 were Roarers, and 9,282 mares, 126 of which were similarly 

 affected — being 1-62 per cent, of the first, and 1-35 per cent, 

 of the second. These proportions only refer to geldings and 

 mares, for according to Charon (and the same remark has 

 been made by Reynal and others), Roaring is more frequent 

 among entire horses. He states that the Administration of 

 the Haras always purchases more stallions than are required 

 to complete the establishment, because of rejections due to 

 unsoundness ; and it is estimated that there is an average 

 proportion of 10 per cent, which are Roarers among the 

 purchases. The same writer adds, in concluding his 

 remarks with regard to this point of sexes, that it is 

 remarkable that it is among the best-bred and best-looking 

 animals that most Roarers are found.^ 



Moeller,^ for Berlin, states that, in his experience, he finds 

 twice as many horses as mares affected with Roaring ; and 

 Williams,' following Percivall,* asserts for England that 

 horses and geldings are more liable to become affected than 

 mares, which are seldom Roarers. 



My own inquiries have had a similar result to that ob- 

 tained by Charon, as the preceding tables will show. In Table 

 III. (p. 47), giving the number and sex of cavalry horses sold 

 because of Roaring during seven years, from the British Army 

 at home, the sexes are nearly equal; while in the heavy corps 

 — Table lY. (p. 48) — the mares are largely in excess. Table II. 

 (p. 87) also shows that, among army horses generally, there is 

 very little difference in the sexes, with regard to predisposition. 



1 Op. cit., p. 31. 



= " Das Kehlkopf-Pfeifen der Pferde," p. 42. 

 '3 "Principles and Practice of Veterinary Medicine," 1872, p. 509. 

 * " Hippopathology," vol. ii., p. 40. 



