ON DISEASES OF THE EYES, 5O7 



old ; and the catara6l may be a year or two, or 

 more, in coming to perfetlion. The fymptoms 

 in the mean time are well known ; cloudinefs, 

 imperfeft fight, in one or both eyes ; in fome a 

 difcharge of ferum, with an eye quite clofed at 

 intervals ; well and tolerably clear again : in 

 others, fcarcely any difcharge, but a gradual 

 wafting and decay of fight. As to cure, it is 

 not to be expefted, unlefs in the very rare 

 cafe of a cataract occurring in a naturally good 

 eye, when I fuppofe the difeafe would fubmitto 

 that method already laid down in humour-blind- 

 nek; in general, moon-blindnefs is too much a 

 difeafe of debility, to require thofe confiderable 

 evacuations. Should however the difeafe be 

 fuppofed to originate in obftru61ed humours, 

 and a depraved ftate of the blood, mercurial 

 phyfic, rowels, and tying up the temporal ar- 

 teries or veins, according to the nature of the 

 cafe, have been recommended ; and I muft ac- 

 knowledge the laft moon-blind horfe with which 

 I had any concern, had all that appearance, but 

 I had been too often foiled to make any new 

 attempt. Bracken fays he couched one horfe 

 with fuccefs, but he does not tell us whether to 

 render his fuccefs of real ufe, he made the pa- 

 tient a prefent of a pair of concave fpe61acles, 

 and tauMit him their ufe ; fince what with the 

 lofs of convexitv in the cornea, from the difeafe 

 firft, and afterwards from the operation, the 



horie 



