264 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 



Treatment. — In treating external ophthalmia the fir.st object is the 

 removal of the cause. Remove any dust, chaff, thorn, or other foreign 

 body from the conjunctiva, purify the stable from all sources of 

 ammoniacal or other irritant gas; keep the horse from dusty roads, 

 and, above all, from the proximity of a leading wagon and its attend- 

 ant cloud of dust; remove from pasture and feed from a rack which 

 is neither so high as to drop seeds, etc., into the eyes nor so low as to 

 favor the accumulation of blood in the head; avoid equally excess of 

 light from a sunny window in front of the stall and excess of darkness 

 from the absence of windows; preserve from cold drafts and rains 

 and wet bedding, and apply curative measures for inflammation of the 

 adjacent mucous membranes or skin. If the irritant has been of a 

 caustic nature remove any remnant of it by persistent bathing with 

 tepid water and a soft sponge, or with water mixed with white of ^%g, 

 or a glass filled with the liquid may be inverted over the e3"e so that 

 its contents may dilute and remove the irritant. If the suffering is 

 very severe a lotion with a few grains of extract of belladonna or of 

 morphia in an ounce of water may be applied, o'r if it is available, a 

 low drops of 4 per cent solution of cocaine may be instilled into the eye. 

 In strong, vigorous patients benefit will usually be obtained from a 

 laxative, such as 2 tablespoonfuls of Glauber's salts daily, and if the 

 fever runs high from a daily dose of half an ounce of saltpeter. As 

 local applications astringent solutions are usually the best, as 30 

 grains of borax or of sulphate of zinc in a quart of water, to be applied 

 constantly on a cloth, as advised, under inflammation of the eyelids. 

 In the absence of anything better cold water may serve every purpose. 

 Above all, adhesive and oily agents (molasses, sugar, fats) are to be 

 avoided, as only adding to the irritation. By way of suggesting 

 agents that may l)e used with good effect, salt and sulphate of soda 

 may be named, in solutions double the strength of sulphate of zinc, or 

 Y grains of nitrate of silver may be added to a quart of distilled water, 

 and will be found especially applicable in granular conjunctivitis, 

 diphtheria, or commencing ulceration. A cantharides blister (1 part 

 of Spanish fly to 4 parts lard) may be rubbed on the side of the face 3 

 inches below the eye, and washed off' next morning with soapsuds and 

 oiled daily till the scabs are dropped. 



WHITE SrECKS AND CLOUDINESS OF THE CORNEA. 



As a result of external opthalmia, opaque specks, clouds, or hazi- 

 ness are too often left on the cornea and require for their removal 

 that they be daily touched with a soft feather dipped in a solution .of 

 3 grains nitrate of silver in 1 ounce distilled water. This should be 

 applied until all inflammation has subsided, and until its contact is 

 comparatively painless. It is rarely successful with an old thick scar 

 following an ulcer nor with an opacity having red blood vessels run- 

 ning across it. 



