IRISH CENTRAL VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 691 
small quantity in a bucket of water weak, and increase it gradually. 
Horses in a short time become quite fond of it, and will prefer it to 
any drink, when it may be given in larger quantities and any 
strength. I have been somewhat puzzled to account for its action ; 
I can only surmise the following ways in which it may produce its 
effects. The first is by its emollient effects on the digestive organs, 
and assisting in their action ; and the second is that I consider it 
very rich in such chemicals as iodine, bromine, and potassium, 
which it gets from the sea in its growth. I have found its fatten¬ 
ing properties are very small, but it certainly keeps a horse in 
health, and makes him look well when continued to be given. 
Linseed-oil is an old recipe, but not the less important or useful, as 
it most decidedly has a beneficial effect on the air-passages. It is 
known to others besides the profession, for it is one of the principal 
agents employed by those unscrupulous dealers who use such means 
as ‘‘setting a broken-winded horse;” and I can only account for 
this from its effects on the stomach. In small and repeated doses 
it certainly alleviates the symptoms considerably, and I generally 
administer it in two- or three-ounce doses every night, and espe¬ 
cially in the early treatment of the disease. Its action can only be 
accounted for by its soothing properties on the digestive track, or 
by its mild aperient effects. 
Calomel I have given a fair trial to in a few cases, but cannot say 
anything in its favour in this disease. I have produced repeated 
salivation in horses suffering from it, but have found no marked 
benefit. 
In two cases where I supposed stoppage of the bronchii or col¬ 
lapse had taken place I tried sulphur vapour, and in one of the 
cases where used twice a week inhaled, it produced a slight muco¬ 
purulent discharge, probably from its stimulating the mucous mem¬ 
brane, which should certainly tend to induce a healthy condition of 
them. 
Ventilation is of the greatest importance. With pure air and 
cleanliness, and after the effect of the physic and blister have dis¬ 
appeared, quiet slow exercise is beneficial. 
Asthma is the next disease I will allude to, and one which the 
profession has heard but little of, but which, I am convinced, occurs 
frequently in the horse. Although depending on the same patho¬ 
logical condition as in the human subject, namely, spasm of the mus¬ 
cular fibres of the bronchial tubes, it does not occur idiopathically. 
Forms of emphysema, thickening of the bronchial tubes, rupture of 
the air-cells, forms of heart disease, or morbid states of the nervous 
system, are generally the causes of its appearance. I have not met 
or heard of a case of true idiopathic asthma, but invariably those 
cases of broken wind which we hear of suddenly getting well are 
some form of asthma, depending on derangement of the stomach. 
The same causes that will produce broken wind in man will produce 
asthma in horses. Animals suffering from ‘‘thick wind” are prin¬ 
cipally the subjects, and the spasmodic attack comes on oftenest 
under circumstances of respiratory excitement, as severe exertion 
will produce. 
