DISEASES OF THE EYE. 171 



in some way. Such is the history of the infirmity in nearly 

 all cases. 



Nor do we believe one half of what is said and written in 

 regard to weak eyes being inherited. Our own observation 

 tends to the conclusion that the doctrine of hereditary weak- 

 ness, in this respect most noticeably, has been carried to an 

 unreasonable extreme by the majority of breeders and veteri- 

 nary authors. In this opinion a large number of the prin- 

 cipal horse-i-aisers, with whom our profession has brought 

 us in contact, fully conincide. Some of them have tested 

 the question by repeated* experiments. A friend in Wilson 

 County, Tennessee, did this in the case of four blind mares, 

 each of whom brought two or three colts in as many years, 

 and no fault could be found with the eyes of any of them. 

 We knew them long enough to test the matter. . Except in 

 respect to their eye-sight, they were fine mares, with good 

 parts, and in excellent condition. The colts were equally 

 good, and had perfect eyes besides. 



If there be no other fault — if the form, size, and blood be 

 right, there is little reason to apprehend any serious defect 

 in the colt. Eyes and all, he will be sound hardly less surely 

 than if neither parent had had a blemish. This is not so un- 

 reasonable as, at first sight, it may seem to many; because, 

 as we have before said, " naturally weak eyes " and blindness 

 are nearly always the direct result of external injury or abuse 

 of some kind. !N'ot long since, we saw a very fine stable 

 horse, with an enlarged hock joint, which made him so lame 

 that he could only with difficulty walk off' at all. The owner 

 was warranting him that this should not affect the foal, and 

 he was perfectly safe in so doing. 



Spavin, ring-bone, and some other deformities, are in the 

 same category. They are nearly always produced by some 

 violence or bad treatment, and are seldom transmitted from 

 one generation to the next. 



Another prevalent opinion which claims our attention is 

 this, that young horses and colts have weak eyes oftener than 

 more mature animals. This is certainly an entire misappre- 



