The Illustrated Horse Doctor / Being an accurate and detailed account of the various diseases to which the equine race are subjected

by Edward Mayhew

Broken wind is evidently a disorder of slow and of long growth; any abuse may lay the foundation of such an affliction. Where abuse of life is possible, there folly is too often habitual; thus repetition may hasten the development of broken wind, but no one act could provoke so lamentable a consequence.

There is some dispute whether broken wind originates in the stomach or in the lungs. The mass of evidence would favor the opinion that originally it was a disease of the digestive organs; but, as the disorder proceeds, all parts of the body appear to be involved.

The symptoms of broken wind are a short, dry cough, which is described as "hacking," and which may be readily imitated by any person making a coughing noise while he withholds from enlarging the mouth, moving the lips, or employing the tongue, but at the same time endeavoring to pronounce the word "hack."

The cough arises from irritability of the larynx, the mucous membrane of which is directly continuous with that proper to the lungs, and is joined to that of the stomach, any disease of which organ is frequently accompanied by cough.

The appetite is ravenously and unscrupulously morbid; the thirst is insatiable; the flatus is most abundant; the dung is but half digested; the abdomen is pendulous; the coat is ragged, and the general aspect is dejected.

The leading symptom, or that which is looked for as indicative of broken wind, is found in the breathing. Respiration is accomplished by a triple effort: inhalation is quick and single, expiration is slow and double. The air is drawn upon the lungs as by a gasp. This being quickly accomplished, the ribs commence to expel the vapor, and move laboriously to their utmost extent without being able to effect the purpose. The movement of the chest and the inhalation are counted as two efforts. Then ensues the third. The abdomen begins to rise, with an evident desire to aid in emptying the lungs by driving forward the diaphragm, and thereby diminishing the capacity of the thorax. These two last efforts are comparatively laborious; but the double effort is only partially completed before a sense of suffocation forces the animal to gasp once more for breath.

There certainly are several circumstances which favor the opinion that broken wind is a disease of the digestive organs. In the first place, the great majority of broken-winded horses are to be found in those stables where the animals are badly fed; moreover, it is no unusual thing for a gentleman to turn his nag out to grass, or into the straw-yard, and to take it up broken winded. Then, again, low dealers, who frequent fairs and public houses, have a method of what they term "setting broken wind;" this consists in pouring into the stomach various substances which cause the indicative symptom of the disease to be for a time concealed. Grease, tar, shot, and many filths are used for this purpose—anything which seems to induce nausea appears capable of producing such an effect. These things may conceal, but they cannot destroy, the characteristic cough; a copious draught of cold water, by refreshing the stomach, will induce the restoration of all those signs natural to the disorder.

Formerly there was very generally accepted a supposed cure for broken wind. The flatus is one of the most marked and troublesome symptoms of the disease; that, when coaches had possession of the roads, rendered a broken-winded animal unsuited to run in such vehicles. To master the objection, and also, by relieving the intestines, to enable the broken-winded horse to live through the pace, a hole was bored into the rectum from without by means of a heated iron; into this hole a leaden tube was inserted, and by that the flatus found egress without the outside passenger being unpleasantly aware of its perpetual escape.

For broken wind, prevention is far more easy than cure; in fact, the utmost which science can at present accomplish is to relieve the distress. To effect this, water should be given only at stated times, and never immediately before work. Four half pails may be allowed each four and twenty hours; one the first thing in the morning, another the last thing at night, and the other two at convenient times during the day. Into every drink of water it is likewise well to mingle half an ounce of dilute phosphoric acid, or half a drachm of dilute sulphuric acid.

Besides this allow oats and beans, five feeds each day, with only five pounds of hay; two pounds in the morning, when being dressed, and the remainder in the rack at night. Crush the oats and beans; thoroughly damp all the food before it is presented to the horse, and also scald the corn.