76 Inflammation of the Eyes. 



operates unceasingly, thou<^h imperceptibly, as a morbid stimulus 

 to the outer coat of the eye. 



So that we can scarcely expect success in inflammations of this 

 organ, from he application of our most powerful remedies, so long 

 as the animal remains exposed to the action of the original exciting 

 cause of the disease. 



And though I have more particularly explained and insisted upon 

 this point, under the article of Stable Management, yet it may not 

 be amiss to observe here, that the existence of so prodigious a quan- 

 tity of volatile Alkali, as the air of stables abounds with, has been 

 (if not entirely overlooked) but very little attended to, in comparison 

 of its importance, by writers on the Veterinary art. 



And as one striking proof of the fact I am insisting upon, among 

 others which might be adduced, I may mention in this place, a cu- 

 jious circumstance which 1 have repeatedly witnessed, and which, 

 before my attention was called to the investigation of this subject, 

 frequently puzzled me to account for, satisfactorily. — The circum- 

 stance I allude to, occurs to workmen who are employed to lime- 

 wash the walls and ceilings of filthy stables, where this salutary and 

 necessary operation, is rarely if ever resorted to. 



On which occasions, I have observed that they were obliged to 

 desist from their work frequently, and rnn out into the open air in 

 order to escape from the pungent atmosphere of the stable, which 

 affected the organs of sight and smell, as violently-as if hartshorn had 

 been sprinkled about the place. Now, th^ fact is, that volatile 

 Alkali (called in the new chemical Nomenclature, Ammonia,) to the 

 presence of which in hartshorn, its pungency is entirely owing, is 

 deposited by the air in large quantities, on the ceilings and walls of 



