DISEASES OF THE RESPIRATORY ORGANS. 
C89 
work in hand. The strapper for instance, during the time 
he is dressing his horse, or cleaning his own boots, gives 
utterance to the habitual hissing, occasionally varied by a 
modification of sound very nearly allied to “ fluttering/ 5 the 
man all the time being evidently unconscious that he is doing 
anything peculiar. 
Horses that are addicted to the habit of “ fluttering 55 are 
occasionally in dispute. The noise is sometimes so exces¬ 
sively loud as to excite attention to an inconvenient degree, 
and suspicion of unsoundness being aroused, the veterinary 
surgeon is called upon to decide. 
In most cases there will be no difficulty in forming an 
opinion of the nature and cause of the alledged defect. First, 
the sound is very characteristic, and quite unlike roaring or 
whistling, or other sound consequent upon disease of the air 
passages. Secondly, the “ false nostrils 55 may be seen to 
vibrate while the noise continues, and to become quiet as soon 
as it ceases. Thirdly, the sound is occasionally interrupted 
while the animal continues to maintain the same speed, or 
even to increase it, rendering it evident that the will has 
some influence over the production of the noise, which cer¬ 
tainly would not be the case were it the result of disease. 
An extended examination would show that pace has little 
or nothing to do with the matter. In his quiet humour the 
horse may be trotted, cantered, or galloped without any oc¬ 
curence of the sound, while at other times when excited he 
will emit it most energetically in his walk, or rather that 
uneasy jolting pace which is his substitute for a walk under 
such circumstances. 
Unsoundness cannot of course be alledged against an 
animal addicted to this habit; it is certainly an annoying cir¬ 
cumstance to the owner, and to a nervous man it would be 
intolerable, but it does not interfere with the respiratory 
capabilities, it in no way diminishes the horse’s usefulness, 
and is not the result of disease, therefore, while it might be 
deemed by the examiner of sufficient importance to justify 
an allusion to its existence, and might probably disqualify the 
animal in the mind of the intending purchaser, it could not 
be construed into an unsoundness. 
Sounds of a more equivocal character, whose origin is not 
so apparent, are often produced by the horse under such cir¬ 
cumstances as to leave no room for doubting their voluntary 
character. A very peculiar instance happened a few years 
back. A valuable hunter was sold, and soon afterwards 
returned as a roarer; no professional opinon had been 
sought, because it was considered that such was unnecessary 
