339 . 
[The two last cases have prepared the way for our friend Pritchard.] 
DISEASES OF THE AIR-PASSAGES OF HORSES. 
By Mr. R. PRITCHARD, V.S., Wolverhampton. 
Bronchitis is occasionally attended, early in the attack, or from 
its commencement, by a very remarkable prostration of strength. 
There is an asthenic form of the disease occurring in horses, in 
which the powers of the constitution are greatly diminished, either 
from a long period of stable treatment, unwholesome food, unequal 
exertion, or other causes, which relax the animal fibres and weaken 
the vital energy. It is not so phlogistic in character as either of 
the forms previously described, and its approach is, frequently, 
very insidious; the breathing is slower and deeper, or but little 
disturbed, and the cough is not frequent, but should any circumstance 
suddenly excite it, quite a paroxysm takes place, in ■which the sore¬ 
ness of the anterior part of the chest, and efforts of the animal to 
desist coughing, are very striking. 
The pulse is increased in frequency but diminished in force; 
the conjunctiva and pituitary membranes are injected; the eye 
dull; the appetite wholly or nearly lost; the urine scanty, and the 
faeces generally dark, dry, and firm. Auscultation gives, early in 
the disease, a dry sonorous murmur in the large bronchi, which is 
soon followed by wheezing, and the mucous rale succeeds. The 
secretion of mucus, which at first is scanty, becomes copious and 
abundant, with a frequent expectoration into the fauces, which the 
horse commonly swallows, but, as the soreness of the chest de¬ 
clines, he ejects it by sneezing, or rather snorting, from the nostrils. 
The mucus discharged at the nose is at first of a viscid, firm, con¬ 
sistence, and of a deep yellow colour; but as the expectoration 
advances it becomes whiter and more purulent in character, at¬ 
tended by a marked mitigation of the symptoms, and its quantity 
gradually diminishing as the animal progresses to convalescence. 
In unfavourable cases, the vital powers seriously decline; the 
breathing becomes more difficult; the pulse weak, wiry, irregular, 
frequent, obscure, and indistinct in the arteries; the accumulation 
of muco-purulent fluid w’ithin the bronchi and trachea suffocative; 
violent fits of coughing, followed by little or no relief; the mouth 
is furred, foetid, and offensive; the horse reels and staggers as he 
moves in his box; the countenance grows haggard and distressed; 
the eyes glassy, and pupils dilated; patches of clammy sweat break 
out in various parts of the body; the limbs are deathy cold; a 
ronvulsive tremor agitates one or other of the muscles of the 
