"hooks," or IXFLAMMATIOJi OF THE HAW. 143 



of the horse's eye, gives his horse over into the hands of this 

 miserable, pretending goiiger, to be "cut for the hooks." 

 There is no doubt but many a fine horse has been subjected 

 to this barbarous and foolish operation when the haw was not 

 at all diseased, and thus injured for all future time; as, indeed, 

 a horse always is, after this unnecessary operation. I can not 

 too strongly speak against the popular practice of blindly tam- 

 pering with the best servant of man ; which, however, the in- 

 telligent and humane owner will not do himself, but he only 

 shifts the responsibility, by permitting the most ignorant of 

 the neighborhood, who have neither interest nor humanity at 

 stake, to do so. How much better, in this country, where 

 well-informed veterinary surgeons can not be got, except in 

 some of the larger cities, that every farmer or owner of a 

 horse should inform himself on this subject; or, at least, take 

 the precaution to have some reliable means of information 

 convenient, which will enable him to ascertain the difficulty 

 and apply the proper remedy. 



In order to explain fully the difficulty called hooks, and to 

 show how injurious is the practice of cutting for it, it will be 

 necessary to call attention to the structure and use of the 

 liaiu. This is a triangular or V shaped, cartilaginous (gristly) 

 structure, situated at the inner corner of the eye, between the 

 eyeball and side of the socket. The short side of this tri- 

 angle is thinned down to quite a sharp edge, and looks out- 

 ward, or toward the sight of the eye, while the sharp angle is 

 far back in the corner of the eye. The haw is concave on its 

 under side, next to the eye, and convex without, so that it fits 

 close to the ball ; it is covered with a thin fold of membrane, 

 of the same that lines the ball of the eye and the inside of 

 the lid, so that it may move smoothly over the ball of the eye. 

 N'oAv, the use of this is to pass rapidly over the ball of the 

 eye whenever any dust, bug, sand, or any thing else gets in 

 it, and thus wipe it off". The haw has no muscle attached 

 to it, to draw it forward over the eye, but its movement is 



