THE EARS. 19 



a resemblance to the green glass eye : there is 

 as much difference between the clear, transpa- 

 rent, bright, healthy eye, and this glass eye 

 (which is written as arising from a loss of power 

 in the optic nerve, and generally incurable,) as 

 there is between a polished diamond and a 

 piece of window-glass. Shying is occasionally 

 connected with some little alteration in the 

 organs of vision, imperceptible to us who are 

 not oculists. * 



The ears of a genuine Arab are small, and 

 the hair inside is silky : they never have that 

 tremendous curling in of the points so prover- 

 bial among bad Persian and country-bred horses. 

 Lop ears are quite as ugly as those that curl in, 

 but a large lop ear, if only well shaped, rather 

 peaked, and not large round at the points, with 

 a thin skin, is no such sign of bad caste ; it 

 appears to belong to a peculiar breed. 



The glands below the ears are sometimes found 

 swollen ; and if much so, may be a serious detri- 

 ment. 



* If you blow a soap-sud bladder between your thumb and 

 fore-finger, and hold it up to the light, you will discover a kind 

 of purple variegated streaks on the surface : these colours 3'^ou 

 will often see over the horse's eyes by narrowly inspecting 

 them, keeping the head in a greater light than the body, as 

 just within a stable door. I do not know their cause, but 

 imagine they have no business there. 



c2 



