Asthma. Broken Wind. Heaves. Dyspncea. 287 



drachm of bicarbonate of soda may be given daily in the food 

 until improvement is noticed or symptoms of the poisonous action 

 of the agent appear. When these are manifested in loss of appe- 

 tite, colicy pains or red and watery eyes the medicine must be 

 suspended and begun again some days later in smaller doses. 



The therapeutic value of arsenic in this case is probably largely 

 due to its action on the nervous system, which has long been 

 recognized. As early as the first century of the Christian Era, 

 Dio.scorides, recommended its use in asthma and in recent times 

 it has acquired a considerable reputation for the treatment of 

 neuralgia. Another — though perhaps an allied — physiological 

 action of arsenic no doubt adds to its value in this equine disorder. 

 This is its power of retarding the waste of tissues. This property 

 it possesses in common with tea, coffee and some other agents, 

 but to a greater degree. This has led to its extensive employ- 

 ment by the peasants in I^ower Austria, Styria, and the mountains 

 separating Austria from Hungary, who found that it improved 

 their personal appearance, increased their weight and enabled 

 them to sustain greater exertions in climbing without fatigue. It 

 was the revelations of Dr. Tschudi concerning the Styrian arsenic 

 eaters that first led Professor Bouley to try this agent in broken 

 wind. 



Examination of Broken-winded Horses. Though the 

 symptoms enumerated above are sufficient to detect broken-wind 

 in all ordinary cases, yet it may not be time thrown away to cau- 

 tion the reader against pronouncing it absent when the more 

 prominent symptoms are not seen. Unscrupulous dealers do not 

 hesitate to avail of a variety of devices to conceal the symptoms 

 and make the animal pass for a sound horse. Digitalis and other 

 sedatives are so employed, but are mostly rejected because they 

 render the horse dull and sluggish. By some the bowels are un- 

 loaded by a dose of physic, the horse is kept on a spare diet of 

 oats, beans and other grain, water is withheld, and on the morn- 

 ing of sale one or two pounds of leaden shot or of bacon fat are 

 administered. The inconvenience attendant on the presence of 

 these agents in the utomacli makes the animal desist as much as 

 possible from moving the abdominal organs, and the double lift- 

 ing of the flank is thus more or less completely hidden. With 

 the veterinarian however this measure like the last defeats its own 



