14 EXAMINATION OF HORSES AS TO SOUNDNESS 



a veterinary surgeon would be quite right in 

 rejecting as unsound any horse with an eye so 

 affected ; and, indeed, he ought to do so, even 

 if it were only for his own protection. But, as 

 I have already stated, blemishes on the cornea, 

 unless they come in the line of sight, will not 

 practically interfere with the usefulness of the 

 horse. 



Having carefully examined the cornea and 

 the eyelids and membranes, search should be 

 made deep into the eye for cataract, a disease of 

 the crystalline lens, whereby the lens becomes 

 opaque or white. Unless the cataract is very 

 small, it may be easily detected by the examiner, 

 if he has good eyesight himself; but in cases 

 where the cataract is so small as not to be 

 readily seen, and if one is suspicious that a 

 cataract is present, a very good plan is to apply 

 the lighted-candle test. In the sound eye three 

 reflections of the flame are distinctly visible — 

 two erect, and one inverted. The first erect 

 image is caused by a reflection of the flame on 

 the anterior part of the eye or cornea ; the 

 second erect image is produced by the reflection 



