118 
THOUGHTS ON BROKEN WIND. 
ing to our present knowledge, nothing can be done to effect a 
cure, though happily we have it in our power greatly to alleviate 
the distressing symptoms. 1 shall briefly consider how this 
is to be effected, under the heads of diet , air , medicine, and 
exercise . 
Diet. —If we suppose the difficulty of breathing to arise 
from a gorged condition of lung (which is generally the case in 
any presumed cause of the disease), it is evident that any 
pressure against the diaphragm will increase the difficulty of 
breathing. This was the nature of the cause which was first 
seized upon by our late talented Professor, Coleman, in his 
ingenious theory to account for the production of emphysema 
in the lungs of broken-winded horses. Although this morbid 
appearance has not been found practically to be such a constant 
attendant cause of the complaint as the learned Professor 
imagined, yet has the carrying out of his principle proved correct 
in the treatment of such horses as are diseased; and indeed the 
practice that was adopted, at the Professor’s suggestion in the 
army, of regulating the giving of food and water in such a 
manner that a horse should never have to work on a full stomach, 
has had its advantages in the prevention of broken wind. The 
palliative treatment of this disease may be said to consist prin¬ 
cipally in a proper system of dieting. The stomach should 
always be kept unloaded prior to work. Hay, which appears 
to have exerted a baneful influence in producing the disease, 
should be given only in small quantities, and in little at a time ; 
and it should always be of the best quality, and the greatest 
supply be given at night. It should always be damped. For 
a middling sized horse, seven pounds are quite sufficient. It 
may be asked, “Why give hay at all 1 ” to which I can only 
answer, “ Necessity obliges us to do so.” It is a fact, 1 believe, 
well known in physiology, that concentrated food will not alone 
support life. The stomach must have a certain quantity or 
bulk to act on ; and were we to substitute some of the straws 
we should only increase the mischief, since it would be found 
we must give more straw, in proportion, than the hay, straw 
containing less nutriment in the ratio of 3 to 1. Whatever 
manger food is given should be either damped, or contain a por¬ 
tion of bran mash ; and it ought to be of the most nutritious 
description, at the same time that it is of the most readily 
digestible kind and form, in order that the dung may be kept 
in a softened state. A manger food, such as is recommended 
by Mr Blaine, seems very applicable.; which is, one part bran, 
one part bruised beans, and two parts bruised oats, with the 
addition of sliced carrots when they can be readily procured, 
as they seem to act beneficially in preventing the collection of 
