Asthma. Broken Wind. Heaves. Dyspnoea. 275 



moreover ' ' feed their horses on the scanty plants which the bor- 

 ders of the deserts supply and when these are wanting they 

 are fed on a little barley with chopped straw, withered 

 herbs, roots dragged from the sands, dates when these can 

 be obtained, and in cases of need the milk of the camel. They 

 drink at long intervals and in moderate quantities, " (Low). 

 Since an habitually overloaded stomach is the most common cause 

 of heaves the absence of the affection in the Arab is not surprising. 

 But the Arab unfortunately enjoys no such security in England or 

 America. Concerning the Barb, Delwart remarks that after a 

 day's hard work, fasting, he is fed on six or seven pounds only 

 of barley, and without the cut straw that the Arab is allowed in 

 similar circumstances. 



In Spain and Portugal horses at work are fed on broken wheat 

 and barley straw, from twelve to twenty-five pounds, and barley 

 from six to twelve pounds daily, according to the size of the ani- 

 mal and the demands upon his strength. The mares are constant- 

 ly at pasture and according to the rainfall they are starved or in 

 abundance. Green food and a limited straw and grain diet are 

 precisely the conditions in which broken wind does not appear. 

 Rodriguez, veterinarian to the queen says that the disease was 

 unknown to Spain until the cultivation of red clover, lucerne, and 

 sainfoin. At Aranjuez, horses fed on the hay of these plants, 

 lost vigor and wind and several became decidedly brokenwinded. 

 All were, however, restored to health, and vigor by a return to 

 their former diet. Count Cardenas found that his horses gained 

 in flesh on the new fodder, but that symptoms of broken wind 

 developed themselves rapidly. 



In France, M. Demoussy records similar facts. In Segala, 

 where the aliment is substantially haj-, brokenwinded horses 

 abound, whilst in the adjacent district of Causse where horses are 

 fed through the winter on straw and barley broken by the mules 

 feet in the act of threshing or treading out, the disease is virtually 

 unknown. 



Ivucerne and sweet trefoil are indigenous and grow abundantly 

 in Causse and Caussergne but eaten green or after their seed has 

 been shaken off and the stems have acquired a dry ligneous char- 

 acter these are innocuous. When however condemned to stand 

 in the stable through a severe winter, with their racks constantly 



