418 THEORY AND TREATMENT OF BROKEN WIND. 
his growth in height; then he lets down his belly, and spreads; 
and all his parts gain their full size; so that the pressure on the 
lungs and midriff is now increased. 
Also, when the horse catches cold and gets a dry cough the 
lungs are much larger than they ought to be; and at that time 
riding sharply is enough to force the lungs so hard against the 
midriff as to force a passage through it*. 
A few years back, some people pretended to cure this com¬ 
plaint by boring; but none were ever cured by it yet, nor ever 
will be. They made a hole above the fundament to let out the 
wind that was forced through the midriff into the bowels; and 
this caused the horse to be continually discharging wind out 
of the place; so that the pretended cure was worse than the 
disease. 
Dissections of horses that have died broken-winded have suffi¬ 
ciently proved the truth of the above observations ; and that not 
only the lungs, together with the heart and its bag, were preter- 
naturally large, but also the membrane which divides the chest; 
and that the midriff was remarkably thin. In some horses, the 
disproportion has been so great that the heart and lungs have 
been almost twice their natural size, yet perfectly sound, and 
without any ulceration whatever, or the least defect in the wind¬ 
pipe or its glands. 
From these observations it abundantly appears, that the enor¬ 
mous size of the lungs, and other contents of the chest, by hinder¬ 
ing the free action of the midriff, is the principal cause of this 
disorder ; and as the lungs are found much more fleshy than 
usual, they must consequently have lost a great part of their 
spring and tone. 
Symptoms .—The first symptom of a broken-wind is an obstinate 
dry cough, which is neither attended with sickness nor loss of 
appetite; but, on the contrary, with a disposition to foul feeding, 
eating the litter, and drinking large quantities of water. 
Prevention .—When a horse is troubled with an obstinate dry 
cough, and eats his litter, it will be necessary to bleed him, and 
to give him the mercurial physic already prescribed, repeating it 
two or three times. Afterwards give the following balls for 
some time, which have been found of the greatest service :— 
Four ounces of gum ammoniacum, four ounces of galbanum, four ounces 
of assafoetida, four ounces of squills, half an ounce of saffron, six drachms of 
cinnabar of antimony; make the whole up into balls, with honey and a little 
liquorice powder, and give one about the size of a pullet’s egg every other 
m< ruing. This is a very good ball for a dry cough. 
* “The midriff, or diaphragm, is that which is commonly called the 
skirts, and separates the chest, where the lungs Jay, from the bowels.” 
