586 The Book of the Horse. 



water, and subsequently apply a mixture of salt-and-water or wet fullcr's-earth. If an 

 abraded surface exists, after well cleaning it, apply a solution of the sulphate of zinc, one to 

 twenty-four. Fomentations should be avoided, as they only render the skin unduly sensitive 

 of future injury. When fomentations are really needed, the injury is, beyond an ordinary gall, 

 of a serious character, and needs the skill of a veterinary surgeon. 



INJURIES TO THE EYE. 



Acute attacks of inflammation of the eye commonly arise from blows, or the presence 

 of some foreign agent, as a hay seed, on the inner surface of the eyelids. This should be 

 treated by placing the horse in a cool dark stable, giving him a dose of opening medicine, 

 and by continuously fomenting the forehead. In the case of some offending material being 

 upon the inner surface of the lids, it should be removed by carefully passing a small piece of 

 sponge fixed upon a thin pencil under the eyelid. 



Horses are subject to another form of inflammation of the eye, of a specific and here- 

 ditary character, so similar in some of its symptoms to that arising from the above-named 

 causes as to require in some instances all the ability of the expert to decide the true nature 

 of the case. This is incurable, and always destroys the vision of one or both eyes. 



You leave your promising four-year-old quite well at night. The next day one eyelid 

 droops, and the groom thinks a bit of chaff has got into it. You apply hot or cold water, or 

 your favourite lotion. It grows worse in a few hours ; the whole eye is blood-red. It is hereditary 

 chronic ophthalmia. If he is relieved the first time, it returns a second and a third time, until 

 partial or total blindness takes place. 



For these reasons a careful examination of the eye before purchase, in order to detect 

 any specks from past inflammation, is most important. The late Professor Spooner's plan was 

 to place the horse in a box painted black and perfectly darkened, and to examine the eyes 

 with a wax candle. Few take such exact precautions. 



DISEASES OF THE SKIN. 



A part of the following information on this very important subject is abridged from Pro- 

 fessor Brown's contributions to The Field: — 



" Among the lower animals diseases of the integument do not assume such a prominent 

 character as they have attained in human medicine ; but they are, nevertheless, sufficiently 

 numerous and important to deserve consideration. 



" In popular language there are two chief forms of disease which do duty for all the 

 affections of the skin, viz., surfeit and mange. Even these are commonly so confounded that 

 one may be mistaken for the other by a person who has no special knowledge of the nature 

 of either. 



" Surfeit includes various forms of irritation of skin, depending on deranged digestive func- 

 tions, or the local effects of dirt and wet. For all practical purposes the single term is perhaps 

 sufficient, in the present somewhat unsatisfactory state of our knowledge of the skin diseases of 

 the lower animals. 



" Itchiness is a symptom of disease of skin which is always easily recognised ; in fact, the 

 expression which the animal gives of his feelings is sufficiently definite to attract attention, and 

 lead to an examination of the part in which the irritation exists. Sometimes the animal rubs or 

 bites all parts of the body which are within reach ; in other cases he devotes his attention to 

 one part, the root of tlie tail or sonic portion of the extremities, which are persistently attacked 



