134 WORM IN THE EYE. 



The Worm in the Eye is plainly visible. — The intruder 

 is clearly seen, in some instances even at a short distance off, 

 swimming about in the aqueous humour within the anterior cham- 

 ber of the eye, like — to use Mr. JefFreson's simile — " an eel in a 

 basin of water, apparently in the full enjoyment of its natural ele- 

 ment," except at any time that it may happen to take a swim 

 through the pupil to visit the darker regions of the posterior 

 chamber; and then, for the time of its stay, it becomes, of course, 

 invisible : and that it does, on occasions, take an excursion of this 

 sort, we have the authority of Mr. Jeffreson, who asserts he has 

 seen it " disappear, apparently, behind the iris, and return again 

 through the pupil." Mr. Gibb has, " more than once, seen two 

 worms in the same eye at one time ; and has, also, seen a second 

 worm make its appearance in an eye from which one had been 

 extracted some months before." Mr. Skeavington liberated a worm 

 from the near eye of an officer's charger in September 1831, and 

 in September 1832 the same horse was brought to him with a 

 worm in the off eye. 



The Worm proves injurious. — His presence creates irri- 

 tation. The eye shews it by becoming intolerant of strong light; 

 lachrymous ; the eyelids droop ; the cornea becomes partially or 

 completely obscured, sometimes assuming a nebulous aspect, ren- 

 dering the pupil indistinct, or altogether invisible ; nor can the 

 worm, in consequence of it, any longer be seen, except at such 

 times as it happens to approach the cornea. After a longer or 

 shorter interval, inflammation arises in the internal and deep-seated 

 structures of the eye, rendering the intolerance of light greater 

 than it w^as at first, and extending to the conjunctival membrane, 

 and there having the effect of suspending lachrymation. In some 

 instances the conjunctival inflammation runs so high that red 

 vessels may be seen traversing the transparent cornea. 



The Worm is a Species of Filaria, or thread-worm. It 

 corresponds with the Linnaean definition — " Corpus teres fili- 

 forme, sequali, ore dilato, labio subrotundo concavo, Filaria equi, 

 habitat in equini corporis cavis variis, telaque cellulosa." Accord- 

 ing to Sir Everard Home, another species, the sirongylus, has been 



