172 AMERICAN FARMER'S HORSE BOOK. 



hension of the facts in the case. True, there is a large ma- 

 jority of young animals among the whole number thus 

 afflicted ; but this is only a natural consequence of the fact 

 that there are nearly twice as many colts and young horses, 

 in all farming regions, as there are older ones. Taking into 

 consideration this disparity in point of numbers, no dift'er- 

 ence can be found among these classes in respect to diseased 

 eyes. 



One fact is important in this connection. Colts, like chil- 

 dren, are more apt to take disease than they will be when 

 they have grown older and stronger. Many a lingering and 

 ultimately fatal disorder, in both man and beast, might have 

 been averted by proper care and judicious management in 

 their youth. The seeds of weakness and decay are often 

 implanted at a very early age, growing with the growth and 

 strengthening with the strength. 



The principles laid down in this section have a pointed 

 illustration in the history of a noble horse which the author 

 once owned. Under the saddle and in the buggy, Turk — 

 for that was his name — had no superior. He was a deep 

 chestnut sorrel, a perfect beauty. We owned him three 

 years, and at the end of that time his eyes went entirely 

 out. They were fearfully diseased when he came into our 

 hands, and had been for at least two years previous. Dur- 

 ing all this time, his eye-sight was gradually but surely fad- 

 ing away. The right eye failed first, and then the left. Such 

 was the power and endurance of his vital energies, that for 

 this long period of time they resisted the encroachments of 

 disease, and succumbed at last, only after a struggle of Hve 

 years. 



Turk had every indication of good eyes. They were large 

 and well set in the sockets, with a wide space between them, 

 and the bone of the skull was dishing. In short, his head 

 was a perfect model for a strong eye. IlTow, what was the 

 cause of his going blind ? His case was called one of " natu- 

 rally weak eyes." We traded for him, in part, to experiment 

 upon, and to see whether his eyes could not be cured ; and 



