THOUGHTS ON BROKEN WIND. 
119 
flatus, which is so distressing to the animal. The quantity of 
each of these articles I need not state; the proportions would 
mainly depend on the size of the horse, and the work he had 
to perform. If carrots were used in any quantity, a proportion of 
hay could be dispensed with, accordant with the relative nutri¬ 
tious value. The horse ought to be fed at least four times a 
day, but not to have had any thing to eat for two hours before 
w T ork. In Ireland I have known bruised whin, the common 
furze or gorse, to be substituted for hay with apparently very 
good effects, as it contains considerable nourishment, and horses 
are very fond of it, and it possesses the advantage of keeping 
the bowels in a soluble state, and thus prevents the accumulation 
of gas. The broken-winded horse, like the roarer, is always 
eager for water; but he should have it sparingly and very 
often, and only a little at a time, the greatest quantity at 
evening stable hour, and be debarred from it for some time before 
his work. If the horse is fed on carrots or any succulent food, 
he will require less water. 
Air.—I n our general treatment of broken-winded horses a 
liberal supply of the purest air is of the greatest importance. 
Those who have seen the magical effects sometimes produced 
merely by the removal of a broken-winded horse from a close 
stable into an airy loose box can best appreciate this. Our 
great object in the suffering animal should be to maintain an 
equable state of temperature, in an atmosphere as pure as 
possible, all the year round. (An analogous disease in man 
would probably be beneficially treated by sending the patient 
to an uniform climate.) We may certainly, by attention, 
maintain pure air, but we cannot guard against those changes 
of atmosphere which are indicated by the barometer, such as 
its lightness and density, or probably its altered electrical con¬ 
dition ; and the broken-winded horse feels all these changes. 
He is a living barometer, and suffers from the climate equally 
with the bronchitic-asthmatic man. One standard fact we may 
always bear in mind, which is, that the evident embarrassment 
of the broken-winded horse’s existence consists in oxygenizing 
the blood; and we can at least allow him to breathe pure air, 
although we cannot apportion it to him in the specific quality 
suited to his diseased condition. 
Medical Treatment. —Here, I am again sorry to say, we can 
only offer palliation. Perfect cure is out of the question. We 
may effect the most surprising change by a proper system of 
dieting, with some aid from medicine, but the disease is not 
overcome, and will surely return. In the principle of dieting 
it was enforced that the food should always be moistened, and 
partake, if possible, of the alterative qualities of grass. It is a 
