DISEASES OF THE EYES. 307 



to injury; to matters congenital dating from birth; and to de- 

 fective nutrition. As a rule cataracts develop slowh' and gradu- 

 all}' and for some time the patient sees more or less distinctly; if, 

 however, a horse that had not previously been guilty of the habit 

 of shying when on the road takes to doing so, it would be wise to 

 have the eyes carefulh' examined by an experienced veterinary 

 oculist, and if in the opinion of such a practitioner a cataract is 

 forming, medical treatment should be commenced; among oph- 

 thalmic specialists, as a rule, surgical measures onl\- are relied upon; 

 the idea of dissolving the cataract^nd clearing up the lens through 

 the instrumentalit}' of internal medication is scouted as ridiculous; 

 but as the result of our own experience, we are satisfied that such 

 a course of procedure is not only rational, but most hopeful; more- 

 over, we have the experience of Dr. Burnett, of London, who has 

 written a most interesting brochure upon the subject, that he has 

 been instrumental in curing quite a number of well-established 

 cases of cataract, and had we not had some success in this line 

 among our own patients and had simply to rel}^ upon the experi- 

 ence of Dr. Burnett we should unhesitatingl}' advise the practice 

 he so ably propounds; such experience as we have had has been 

 among dogs, but we see no reason wh}', if the opportunity offered, 

 the same line of treatment should not suffice for horses. The late 

 Sir David Brewster appears to have formed the opinion that a re- 

 lationship existed between salinity of the lens and the origin of 

 cataract; this is a most singular fact, as Dr. Burnett seems to have 

 arrived at a similar conclusion; nay, more than that, he advocates 

 strongly that persons with a tendency to cataract should discon- 

 tinue taking salt with their food, in the belief that salt tends to 

 produce cataract; moreover, Natriim miiriaticum (which is the 

 homoeopathist's name for salt when prepared as a remedial agent), 

 in high attenuation, is the remedy which Dr. Burnett prescribed 

 for several of the cases of cataract that he succeeded in curing, 

 and it was this drug that we prescribed for and cured several dogs 

 that were the subjects of undoubted cataract. Dr. Burnett, how- 

 ever, with no uncertain sound, prodaims the absolute necessity of 

 not relying upon any specific as a cure-all in different cases of cata- 

 ract; he points out clearly, like the true homoeopath he is, that 

 every case must be treated according to the totality of symptoms, 

 not merely those that do exist, but those also that have existed 



