DISEASES OF THE EYE. ITf 



will cause the eye to clear up very suddenly. Jockeys have 

 a trick of doing this when they wish to dispose of a moon- 

 eyed horse not entirely blind. 



There is another species of inflammation of the eye, called 

 simple ophthalmia, which it is not always easy to distinguish 

 from the earliest stages of the much more formidable dis- 

 ease just described. It is generally one of the effects of a^ 

 cold, or is caused by the presence of some foreign body in 

 the eye, and, for the. most part, the inflammation is confined 

 to the conjjmctiva. If it does not pass away of itself a« 

 soon as the horse begins to recover from the cold, or the irri- 

 tating substance is removed, it readily yields to treatment in 

 nearly every case. 



CATARACT. 



Cataract is an opacity of the crystalline lens, an affection 

 which renders this most important humor of the eye utterly 

 incapable of transmitting the rays of light to the retina be- 

 hind. It is quite commonly, though not always, the sequel 

 of a case of " moon eyes." When it is confirmed, the sight 

 is hopelessly destroyed. The pupil of the eye then becomes 

 so white that even the casual observer will notice it at a 

 considerable distance. A lesser degree of the same appear- 

 ance marks its progress from the beginning. In our country 

 this disease is happily of rare occurrence. 



Our farmers, however, are better acquainted with another 

 affection of the eye which goes by the same name. It is 

 one form of what some veterinarians call spurious cataracts. 

 A small, whitish spot is seen on the eye,, generally near the 

 outer corner. It has a peculiarly thick, cloudy appearance, 

 and seems to be of a cartilaginous or gristly texture. Some- 

 times it increases to half the size of a wheat grain, but is 

 usually a great deal less. It gets no larger, and, in time, 

 Nature will get rid of it without any assistance. These 

 spots generally make their appearance between the ages of 

 three and six years, and disappear within the next three 

 12 



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