168 AMERICAN FARMER'S HORSE BOOK. ' 



hundreds of thousands of dollars, in our country alone, by 

 the loss of eye-sight. It is generally considered, when the 

 eyes become diseased, that all is over with that horse-rhe 

 must go blind. For most ordinary uses, such an animal is 

 regarded as but little better than worthless. It will be quite 

 worth our while, therefore, to examine into the causes which 

 make so many horses go blind. 



Bad stable-management and ill-usage are at the bottom of 

 the trouble, in a large majority of instances. Of the former 

 cause, as it exists in many portions of the Union, we can not 

 forbear speaking with great severity ; the latter is still more 

 apparent. Both are. prolific in breeding disease and con- 

 tagion, and both work fearful consequences to the eye-sight. 



How many stables have we visited where the volatile gas 

 of fgnmonia, or hartshorn, was so strong that it brought the. 

 water into our eyes when we remained there only a few 

 moments! What must be the effect upon the eyes of the 

 poor horse, compelled to live amid these fumes for weeks and 

 months together ! But perhaps a still more serious evil is 

 the deficiency of light, which characterizes so many stables. 

 Light is essential to the health of both body and mind of 

 man, and the physical needs of the animal, in this respect, 

 are equally as great as his. Even vegetation, when grown 

 in the dark, turns pale and sallow, and tastes utterly insipid. 

 Light imparts to it essential qualities which nothing else 

 can ; and so with the physical system of living beings. The 

 watery humors and secretions of the body are subject to 

 change in the dark. It is not strange, therefore, that the 

 eye suffers when deprived of the* light, which is its natural 

 element; or that, after a time, its watery humors begin to 

 look milky. 



Chronic distemper and founder, with some other constitu- 

 tional diseases, which are also the offspring of bad manage- 

 ment, help to aggravate any unfavorable condition of the 

 eyes, and often directly predispose them to disease. Ex- 

 ternal injuries operate in a similar manner. Some brutal 

 teamster inflicts a blow on the head, which is received, in 



