BROKEN WIND. 
83 
respiratory center, and dyspnoea is the result. The difficulty 
of expiration is due to lessened elasticity in the emphysema¬ 
tous lung and the partial closure of the bronchii as a result of 
the asthma and hypertrophy of their walls. 
The cough that accompanies broken-wind is but seldom 
heard in some patients, while in others that heave no worse 
it is very often heard and is sometimes quite distressing. It 
is no doubt caused in many instances by an irritable condi¬ 
tion of the mucous membrane lining the larynx, trachea and 
bronchial tubes ; very often I think, from a diseased or over¬ 
sensitive condition of the pneumogastric nerve which gives 
this mucous membrane its sensibility. In some cases the 
cough is said to be due to a lack of bronchial secretion, while 
still in others to excess of secretion. 
The emaciation and enlarged abdomen seen in many 
broken-winded horses are due to dyspepsia. As digestion is 
imperfectly performed, a greater amount of food is consumed 
and chronic dilatation of the stomach and intestines is the re¬ 
sult. The diseased condition so brought about affects the 
pneumogastric and sympathetic nerves and it is no doubt a 
very fruitful source of broken-wind. 
PREVENTION. 
The first step in preventing broken-wind is to select for 
breeding individuals of sound wind and descended from par¬ 
ents free from the disease, as the disease may remain latent 
for one generation and reappear in the next. 
The next preventive measure is good care—that is, proper 
feeding, watering and working. There is no question but a 
lack of grain and too much hay, especially if the horse be 
worked hard and the hay be of poor quality, is a fruitful 
source of dyspepsia and broken-wind. A horse must needs 
have strong digestive organs to live upon hay or rough fod¬ 
der alone and do hard work for any length of time. 
A horse worked in the field or upon the road from i P. M. 
till 7 PM., is in no condition to receive all the water he wishes 
to drink at once; yet nearly all farm horses are so watered in 
the summer. Many horses so watered drink from twenty to 
