388 DISEASES OF THE IIOESE. 



any dust getting into tliem, the disease, although apparently- 

 considerable, is seldom of long continuance ; that is, when the 

 injury is not severe, and proper means are employed for its 

 removah But when the inflammation has subsided, thei'e often 

 remains on the sui-fiice of the eye an opaque spot, or Jilm, as it 

 is termed, which in severe injuries extends over the whole of 

 the cornea, or surface of the eye. After a little time, this 

 opacity gradually diminishes, and sometimes wholly disappears : 

 more commonly, however, a small film remains, which does not 

 in any material degree impede vision. This defect, therefore, is 

 of no importance, and may safely be overlooked, provided the 

 purchaser is certain that the opacity is really on the surface, 

 and not in the pupil of the eye, and that the other parts appear 

 bright, and free from every kind of imperfection. As a further 

 security, a condition may be annexed to the warranty, by which 

 the horse may be returned in three or four months, should the 

 imperfection prove to be of a serious nature. When a complete 

 cataract takes place, which is known by the pupil being of a 

 white or pearl colour, the strength of the other eye is generally 

 restored, and it rarely becomes diseased afterwards, except from 

 accidents : he may, therefore, be safely purchased as a one-eyed 

 horse. 



We have now to extend our investigation to another point ; 

 that is, the state of the wind, or rather, of the lungs, and parts 

 connected with them. When a horse is absolutely broken- 

 winded, there is no diflSculty in detecting the disease ; the 

 laborious breathing, or working of the flanks, particularly in 

 going up a hill, and the short asthmatic cough, are symptoms 

 which cannot escape observation. Between this state of the 

 Inngs and perfect health, there ai-e many degrees, and it is the 

 intermediate defects that we find most difficulty in discovering. 

 The criterion by which dealers judge of the state of the wind is 

 by no means a bad one : they make the horse cough by pinching 

 or grasping the top of the windpipe : if the lungs are in that 

 state wliich constitute broken wind, or if they are appx'oaching 

 to that state, the sound of the cough is so peculiar that it 

 cannot well be mistaken : it is short and husky, exactly like 

 that of an asthmatic person. When this kind of cough is ob- 

 served, the horse shoidd be rejected, even if the motion of the 

 flanks aj)pear perfectly easy and regular. I have, in several 

 instances, known broken wind apparently cured by keeping a 

 horse at m*ass : that is, he seemed to breathe with ease, and did 

 not cough when moderately exercised, but by pinching the 

 throat there was still that peculiar cough, and by keeping him 

 in the stable a few days, he became as bad as ever. It is ad- 

 visable, however, for those who have occasion to purchase 

 horses, to make themselves familiar with the sound of this 



