48 
DEFOIIMITY OF THE 
a question which appears yet unsettled. For my own part, I should 
say, experience seems to teach us, that, so far as conformation or 
liability is concerned, disorders may prove hereditary; but I have 
no notion of morbid action being conveyed from parent to offspring 
unless through the medium of contagion or infection. That habits 
and vices, however, are so conveyed there cannot remain a doubt. 
Mr. W. J. Goodwin, whose obser\’ations in these matters must have consider¬ 
able weight with us, has kindly informed me, in answer to my inquiries, that, 
to the best of his recollection, the mare called “ Mary,” by Precipitate, who 
was herself a roarer, bred a filly by Sorcerer, also a roarer, and that fiUy bred 
a roarer to Waterloo, called “ Black Jack.” In opposition to this, however, 
stands the following fact, for w’hich I am likewise indebted to Mr. G.:— 
Taurus, a celebrated racer, a roarer, has covered several mares, and their pro¬ 
duce are all turning out w^ell and have w'on several races, in no one instance 
his get having proved a roarer, and notwithstanding that his own family were 
all notorious for the disease. Mr. Goodwin knows of a mare who has pro¬ 
duced four crib-biters, though covered by different stallions, and she herself 
not possessing the vice. 
The Treatment of Roaring is an affair that will employ all 
our skill and scrutiny. As I said before, unless we can ascertain 
the cause of the evil, and make a shrewd guess at the nature and 
situation of this cause, we do little more than impose upon our em¬ 
ployers, and upon ourselves too, in attempts to remove it. Towards 
this end, the first inquiry to be made, is, how long the horse has 
been a roarer. Secondly, whether the roaring followed catarrh, or 
cough, or bronchitis, or strangles, or distemper of any kind. Thirdly, 
whether the horse has run in harness, and is in the habit of being 
tightly reined up, and wdiether the roaring existed antecedently to 
his going in harness, or has come on since. Fourthly, by careful 
examination, to ascertain whether there is any mechanical obstruc¬ 
tion to account for the roaring; or any distortion, or deformity, or 
unnatural tenderness about the larynx or windpipe. Fifthly, if 
there is any reason for believing it to be nervous or spasmodic. 
Lastly, should there appear any chance of the horse being bene- 
fitted by treatment, to inquire what is his value—what value his 
master sets on him—and whether his owner is willing to give him 
up a sufficient length of time for requisite trial. 
A Cure for Roaring is what—at least, in the common accept¬ 
ation of the phrase—we do not possess ; nor is it possible for a ge¬ 
neral cure to be included in any one individual remedy, or special 
set of remedies. That Avhich would tend to remove it as the conse¬ 
quence of disease, would be entirely inapplicable in a case where 
it arose from distortion; w'hile those means which seemed best 
adapted for a case of distortion would, probably, prove altogether 
inefficacious in one of mechanical obstruction. In fine, any remedy 
we may possess can only be suited to one description of disease ; 
