THOUGHTS ON BROKEN WIND. 
15 
wind : the adominal muscles, under such a condition of things, 
being called into play to expel the air out of the lungs, which 
would be gorged with blood, while they were containing the quan¬ 
tity of air necessary for respiration. This, which had for some 
time been an hypothesis with me, received most confirmatory evi¬ 
dence on consulting the works of that eminent veterinary author, 
Hurtrel D’Arboval, from whose veterinary dictionary I have 
extracted the following: viz. the results of some careful post¬ 
mortem examinations in ten cases of broken wind, by Professor 
Godine, junior, at Alfort. This is followed by the autopsy of a 
broken winded stallion, by the same; and, lastly, the appearance 
presented on dissection of two broken winded horses, by Hurtrel 
D’Arboval, with the conclusions he draws. 
The whole of the article on broken wind is worthy of the 
most careful reading: it shews us how very closely our conti¬ 
nental neighbours have investigated the subject. 
The General History of the Post-mortem Appearances , as 
detailed hy Professor Godine , in ten Cases of Broken Wind. 
“ The Pericardium is commonly healthy, but only a little 
larger than usual. It nearly always contains a small quantity 
of serous fluid, and its surface, especially at the upper part, has 
sometimes a number of small white spots scattered over it. The 
volume of the heart is augmented, often to double its size ; its 
tissue is denser than ordinary, of a fibrous consistence, and of a 
blanched appearance. Opaque spots, of greater or lesser extent, 
of a fibro-cartilaginous nature, penetrate its substance. The 
same alterations, likewise, take place on the internal surface of 
the left ventricle : its capacity is contracted, its orifice diminished 
in size, its lining membrane thickened, and its external surface 
is rugged and uneven. Sometimes the right ventricle and the 
auricle on the same side are found dilated. The tissue of the 
left auricle is dense, inelastic, thickened, and apparently of a 
fibrous nature in many points. The auriculo-ventricular valves 
shew the same organic alterations, and have but little mobility. 
The communication of the auricle with the ventricle is sometimes 
partly closed by the alteration of the valves into a cartilaginous 
substance, which causes an obstruction to the passage of the 
blood into the arterial ventricle. Both the cavities on the left 
side are sensibly smaller. The pulmonary veins and the artery 
have acquired a greater diameter, whilst that of the aorta is 
diminished. Sometimes the lung contains a quantity of black 
liquid blood, as is commonly seen whei} the functions of this 
organ are deranged by any cause which prevents the natural 
arterialization of the blood. 
