HORSE— CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



107 



sure to return on the restoration of the 

 usual food, and exposure to the elements ; 

 and hence it is of the utmost consequence 

 in purchasing a horse to examine his eyes 

 for the marks left behind by it. If the case 

 is hopeless, it becomes a question whether 

 or not it will be wise to put an end to the 

 inflammation by destroying the affected 

 eye, for it is well known that if it goes on 

 for any length of time, the other, sound eye, 

 becomes affected. The only difficulty con- 

 sists in feeling assured that there is really 

 no chance of recovery ; for when once 

 the eye is finally condemned, the sooner 

 it is opened and its contents evacuated, 

 the sooner will the horse return to his 

 work, and the more chance has the other 

 eye of escaping. The operation is very 

 simple, and merely requires a sharp-point- 

 ed knife to be passed into the anterior 

 chamber from one edge of the cornea, 

 and driven back till it cuts into the lens, 

 when it is to be brought out on the other 

 side of the cornea, and the whole of the 

 humours will escape on making pressure 

 upon the upper eyelid. 



In injuries of the eye, fomentation with 

 warm water should be carried on for half 

 an hour, and then omitted for three or 

 four hours, after which it may be repeat- 

 ed again and again, at similar invervals. 

 Great care should be taken to remove any 

 extraneous bodies, such as particles of 

 dust, etc. 



Cataract, or opacity of the lens, is very 

 commonly the result of iritis, its capsule 

 having been coated with a layer of white 

 lymph, deposited by the inflamed vessels; 

 but it also sometimes makes its appear- 

 ance without being preceded by any of 

 the signs of inflammation. In the former 

 case the early symptoms are those of iritis , 

 but in the latter, the opacity often goes 

 on increasing, without the owner of the 

 horse, or his groom, having his attention 

 drawn to the eyes, until he finds that he is 

 nearly blind. This progress is generally 

 marked by the development of an unus- 

 ual timidity ; the previously bold animal 

 is alarmed at objects advancing on the 

 • road, and covered carts and wagons, of 

 which he formerly took no notice, 

 occasion him to shy in the most timid 

 manner. On examining his eyes careful- 

 ly, instead of the beautifully clear pupil, 

 with the reflection of tapetum lucidum shin- 

 ing through it, there is seen either a mass 



of dull white, generally more opaque in 

 the centre, or an appearance of mottled, 

 semi-transparent soap, or, lastly, one or 

 two distinct white spots, not quite circu- 

 lar, but with irregular edges. In confirm- 

 ed cataract, the white pupil can be seen 

 at any distance; but in the very early 

 stage, only a practised eye can detect the 

 opacity, which, however, is so manifest to- 

 him, that he wonders it is not visible to 

 every one else. The reason of this diffi- 

 culty of detecting the alteration of struc- 

 ture seems to be, that inexperienced ex- 

 aminers look at the eye in such a manner 

 that they are confused by the reflection 

 on it of their own faces, hiding all be- 

 neath. If, however, they will turn their 

 heads a little more to one side, this will 

 disappear, and they cannot fail to per- 

 ceive the disease. When cataract is 

 clearly proved to exist, all idea of treat- 

 ment may be abandoned, as nothing but 

 an operation can procure a removal of 

 the opacity; and that would leave the 

 horse in a more useless condition than be- 

 fore, since he could see nothing clearly, 

 and would only be subject to continual 

 alarms. In the human being, the opera- 

 tion is performed with great success, be- 

 cause the lens which is sacrificed can be 

 replaced externally by means of convex 

 glasses ; but in the horse nothing of the 

 kind can be done. Hence, it is useless to 

 dream of effecting any improvement in 

 this disease ; and if both eyes are the 

 subject of cataract, the horse is incurably 

 blind. But supposing there is a cataract 

 in one eye only, is the other sure to go- 

 blind, or may a reasonable hope be en- 

 tertained of its remaining sound ? Here 

 the history of the disease must be exam- 

 ined before any opinion can be formed. 

 If the opacity followed an accident,, 

 there is no reason for concluding that 

 the other eye will become diseased; 

 but if it came on idiopathically, either 

 preceded by inflammation or otherwise, 

 there is great risk of a repetition in the 

 sound eye. Nevertheless, instances are 

 common enough of one eye going blind 

 from cataract, while the other remains 

 sound to the end of life; and those are 

 still more frequent in which the one sound 

 eye continues so for six or seven years. 



HORSE, Amaurosis. — This is a palsy of 

 the nervous expansion called the retina^ 

 produced by some disease, either func- 



