74 CONJUNCTIVAL OPHTHALMIA. 



tival parts of horses' eyes are not so exposed as those of our own 

 are ; nor are horses' eyes obnoxious to the contagions which ours 

 are ; neither are they liable to any disorder through derangements 

 of the digestive organs — at least, if we except the liver. None 

 of these differences, however, nor indeed all of them together, seem 

 to account for the peculiar exemptions the eyes of animals enjoy in 

 this respect. 



The Traumatic is the form of conjunctival ophthalmia which 

 we are mostly called to treat as a special disease. The horse is 

 brought to us with his eyelids closed and knitted together, occa- 

 sioned by the irritation excited by the presence of the offending 

 body, whatever it may be. The moment we attempt to separate 

 them, the lids are more forcibly contracted than ever ; and no 

 sooner have we effected any separation, than a gush of hot tears 

 collected within them meets our fingers, while against them is 

 simultaneously thrust the membrana nictitans. The conjunctiva, 

 disclosed by the e version of the upper lid, appears intensely red- 

 dened and tumid from infiltration ; perhaps besmeared with mucous 

 or purulent secretion. The eye itself has a small sunken aspect, in 

 consequence of being retracted, at the time of our examination, 

 into the orbit; the cornea appearing the while even brighter than 

 usual, from the profuse flow of tears over it. 



The Cause of all this irritation and inflammation must be 

 sought for while the eye is in our power. We must first, to the 

 extent we are able, separate the lids, so as to obtain a view of the 

 cornea, to ascertain if that be the part injured : a blow from a whip 

 or switch, or a bite from another horse, the lesion commonly met 

 with, leaves a wound with some detachment of substance hanging 

 from it, which will now become apparent. Should there be no 

 injury to the cornea, the probability is that some foreign body — a 

 hay-seed, most likely, though it may be something else, grit or 

 dirt perhaps — has got lodged underneath the upper eyelid, the 

 aversion* of which, to the extent we are able to accomplish 



* In a man's eye the superior lid is capable of complete eversion : indeed, 

 by means of a probe, is easily turned inside out, and will then remain so until 

 reflected : but so unsubstantial and membraniform are the tarsal cartilages of 

 the eyelids of horses, that we are only able to evert the upper lid partially ; nor 

 will it remain everted, unless forcibly retained by the finger. 



