THE 
VETERINARIAN. 
VOL. XXV, 
No. 290. 
FEBRUARY 1852. 
Third Series, 
No. 50. 
THOUGHTS ON BROKEN WIND. 
By John W. Gloag, M.R.C.V.S., 11th Hussars. 
[Continued from page 18.] 
I SHALL now enter into a consideration of some of the 
Causes of Broken "Wind. —Among the principal of these 
I shall place bad forage. By this I mean, over-heated, musty 
hay. We all know how prone certain classes of horses, such 
as farmers’ and millers’ horses, are to this disease; and these 
animals are generally allowed an unlimited quantity of hay, 
which is often of the worst quality. It is stated by Nimrod, 
that there are very few cases of broken wind in France, com¬ 
pared with the numbers we have in England. I cannot vouch 
for this as a fact of my own knowledge ; indeed, I am inclined 
to think that the numbers in France may have escaped the 
notice of that talented writer; an opinion I form upon no other 
ground than that of reading of the very numerous cases that 
have been examined after death by the various veterinary pro¬ 
fessors at the French schools, as detailed in their writings. We 
should have a difficulty, 1 expect, even in our own country, to 
find so many subjects. The reason, however, that Nimrod gives 
for this, is, that the hay is of bad quality, at least what we 
should consider to be so in England, viz. that it lays to dry in 
the open field until it is quite odourless, and that it is never 
heated in the rick. Added to this, they give more food of a 
sloppy nature to their horses than we do; and he is of opinion 
that hay heated in the rick may have something to do with the 
production of broken wind. I cannot reason on a fact which I 
do not know to be perfectly established ; but I will only make one 
observation referring to this point—one, perhaps, that may be 
worth investigating—which is, that in India, where the horses 
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