IN SEARCH OF A HORSE. 137 



stead of endeavoring to subdue the inflammation by 

 the ordinary remedies, it has appeared the simplest 

 way to remove the diseased part ; and thus the eye, 

 though for a time apparently restored to health, has 

 in the end been lost by the casual introduction of 

 impurities, such as dust, flies, &c., which there no 

 longer remains any natural means of removing. It 

 will scarcely be credited by general readers, that so 

 prevalent is this error, as to have found a place in 

 that learned work, the Encyclopaedia of Rees, where, 

 under the article Haw, this membrane is described 

 as a diseased tumor in the eye, and instructions are 

 given for removing it ! ! ! This may give a useful 

 hint not to confide very readily in the opinions of 

 those farriers, whose station in life justifies a suspi- 

 cion that their knowledge is merely practical, and 

 not founded upon scientific instruction. 



The first point to which I would direct attention 

 in reference to the soundness of the eye, is the 

 colour of the inner surface of the eyelids. I have 

 noticed that its natural colour is white ; where it is 

 found of a red colour, without any apparent signs of 

 local injury, such as tenderness and swelling, it is a 

 symptom of inflammatory disease : if, instead of red, 



