178 AMERICAN FARMER'S HORSE BOOK. 



years afterward. Their duration is very variable, from one 

 day upward. They impair the vision but little, if at all. 



GLASS BYES. 



Nearly all writers on the horse speak of " glass eyes " as 

 the popular name of amaurosis, or gutta serena, which is palsy 

 of the retina, the expansion of the optic nerve. A disease 

 of this character must be exceedingly difficult of treatment, 

 and can seldom have any other termination than blindness. 

 Thus the English veterinarians all describe it. 

 ■^ But in this country the term "glass eye" has another and 

 very different meaning. It is applied to a peculiar forma- 

 tion of the organ, which seldom hinders the horse from seeing 

 as well as ever. Very young colts have had glass eyes, and 

 have grown old, without showing any change in the appear- 

 ance of the eye. During all this time they could, appar- 

 ently, see as well as other horses, and the same in this eye 

 as in the other. Only one eye seems to possess this pecul- 

 iarity at the same time, and, except its white, glassy look, 

 its appearance in no wise differs from that of the other. 

 Utterly unlike the symptoms of genuine amaurosis, the pupil 

 is perfect, and the iris is distinct and quite natural. It is 

 most probable that the white ring around the cornea is but 

 the reflection in the aqueous humor of a peculiar color of 

 some of the coatings of the eye, as a close inspection shows 

 the aqueous and vitreous humors in the glass eye to be of 

 the same color, and as clear and transparent as in the other. 

 No treatment is necessary. 



The owner of a glass-eyed horse in this country, or, at 

 least, in the Western and South-western States, would be sur- 

 prised to be told that his animal was less valuable on account 

 of this peculiarity. If it injured his sale at all, it would be 

 solely on account of its singular look. 



INFLAMMATION OP THE HAW, OR HOOKS. 



One of the most common affections to which the eye of 

 the horse is subject is inflammation of the haw, constituting 



.M^ 



