66 



"liigli feeding and irregnlar exercise" responsible ; 11 claim 

 tliat "overwork" in various ways is a potent causal factor ; 

 and 21 say heredity, especially in blind or "weak-eyed" 

 breeds, is tbe chief cause ; six (6) parties traced the history 

 directly to a blind sire or dam. Surely the above ideas, 

 relative to the cause of periodic opthalmia, show that the 

 stock owners of Alabama have been searching for the cause ; 

 and if they have not discovered the actual originating cause, 

 they have found factors that intensify or conditions that 

 make the disease worse. Some have suggssted that home- 

 bred horses are more disposed to this disease than horses 

 or mules brought here from other states ; yet others claim 

 that the opposite is true. I am of the opinion that the ani- 

 mals freighted here from Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, etc., 

 are far more liable to contract periodic opthalmia than 

 home-bred horses ; because the diet of the northern horse 

 is very greatly changed and he must also become acclimated 

 — his system must be adjusted to new climatic conditions. 



The susceptibility of an animal is determined to some 

 extent by age. From the reports of cases where age was 

 mentioned, and also from the records of European authori- 

 ties, the period of greatest frequency is from 3 to 9 years of 

 age. Some have placed this danger period from 2 to 7. 

 Yet it should be remembered that periodic opthalmia does 

 occur outside of the above age limits, for I have reports of 

 cases 12, 13 and 15 years old. 



Treatment. — Taking into consideration our indefinite 

 knowledge of the originating cause and the numerous attend- 

 ing, exciting and predisposing causes, and the fact that the 

 disease generally results in total blindness in one or both 

 eyes, it is evident that preventative treatment is the most 

 profitable and reasonable. The drainage, ventilation and 

 light in most barns are sadly neglected and generally very 

 defective. The barn is usually resting on the ground and 

 the stalls are filled with clay which becomes saturated with 

 urine. The clay allows very little moisture to pass through 

 it; the urine, which falls upon it and with which it becomes 



