9 
A VARIETY OF THE EPIDEMIC OF 1836. 
foal of a month old to very old horses, have indiscriminately 
been subjected to its attacks ; and as affections of the respira- 
tory organs, particularly as one of its terminations, have been on 
the increase, I have herewith submitted for your consideration a 
few cases which fell under my observation. 
As the symptoms of the epidemic have not, upon the whole, 
materially differed from those described by others of your contri- 
butors, it is not my intention to recapitulate them, but confine 
myself to the brief recital of cases illustrative of its fatal ter- 
mination in, as it has been ignorantly and lamentably mis- 
called, broken wind. 
I will begin with a little brown horse, which I bought in the 
month of June 1835, and which had at the time of purchase a 
bad short cough, with a peculiarity in breathing, that was pro- 
nounced by many (not excepting vets.) as broken wind. Ts r ow, 
this was an opinion with which I could not coincide ; for al- 
though respiration was performed in a very peculiar and rapid 
manner, yet I had never previously witnessed any thing at all 
correspondent to it in the breathing of a broken-winded horsey 
and this, in conjunction with the idea of being laughed at for 
making such a purchase, induced me to persevere in medical 
treatment, even after 1 inwardly felt, and was forced to acknow- 
ledge, that in all probability there was not the least shadow of 
hope that 1 should be rewarded for my pains by the recovery 
and future usefulness of my patient. Perseverance, however, 
in this instance, as it generally does in others, surmounted many 
obstacles, and finally crowned my efforts with success ; for he is 
at this moment as sound in his wind as any “ horse alive but 
as the treatment which was daily and unremittingly persevered 
in for four months, would take more time than 1 can at present 
spare, and perhaps intrude too far upon your patience if given in 
detail, 1 will merely say of it, that a strong tincture of cantha- 
rides was twice or three times a-day rubbed upon the parotid 
glands, and extended down the whole course of the windpipe ; 
sedative medicine was also administered night and morning. 
In the autumn of the same year I had another similar case in 
a young horse, five years old, in which the same treatment was 
resorted to, and with the like success ; for he was sold to a 
dealer with a warranty for £t)0 at our Christmas fair, and has 
since turned out well. 
The following cases are of a fatal nature ; but they shew that 
a little more circumspection (which, by the by, appears to be a 
quality we poor vets, are lather deficient in, whether owing to 
our own natural stupidity, or deficiency of education) before 
giving a prognosis will free us from censure, which we do 
VOL. x. c 
