288 Account of a Filaria in a Horse's Eye. 



tinct view of his tormentor. I believe the horse was quite bUnd 

 in that eye, for it appeared as if all the humors were confounded 

 together, and that the worm had the whole orb to range in, which, 

 however, was not of a diameter sufficient for the worm to extend 

 its whole length, as far as I could discover. As this is a very un- 

 common circumstance, and may affect some philosophical doc- 

 trines, it is much to be lamented that the horse had not been pur- 

 chased, and the eye dissected for better examination. That there 

 was a living, self-moving worm within the ball of the horse's eye, 

 free from all deception or mistake, I am most confident. How 

 this worm got there, or if bred in so remarkable a place, where 

 its parents came from, or how they contrived to deposit their se- 

 men or convey their egg into the eye of an horse, Heave for oth- 

 ers to determine." 



The additional particulars communicated by Dr. Morgan, are 

 that the horse was of a sorrel color, nine years old, and belonged 

 to Dr. Dayton, near Elizabethtown, New Jersey. The first cir- 

 cumstance which attracted the owner's attention was, that from 

 being very mild and gentle, the horse suddenly became vicious 

 and unmanageable, and ran away and dashed the chair to pieces. 

 When seen by Dr. Morgan the worm was about four inches in 

 length, and "as thick as a knitting-needle, or piece of common 

 twine." The aqueous humor was of a white, milky appearance, 

 bordering on the color of a cataract, which was supposed to be 

 owing to a breaking down of the vitreous humor, which had thus 

 discolored the aqueous portion. The iris was thought to be de- 

 stroyed, but this was doubtless a mistake. At this time the ani- 

 mal passed freely from the anterior to the posterior chamber of 

 the eye, and vice versa, which the Dr. supposed could not have 

 happened unless the partition between had been broken down. 

 But it so happens that there is no partition between the two ex- 

 cept the thin membrane of the iris, through which there is an 

 opening, the pupil, of sufficient size to permit a free passage. 

 " It may be presumed," says the writer, " that whatever might be 

 the state of vision, that eye must be now blind. The lids are 

 commonly closed, probably owing to pain excited in the eye by 

 so troublesome a guest ; but there is no blood-shot appearance on 

 the cornea, though the surrounding parts, namely, the palpebrse, are 

 a little tumid. To get a view of the eye, the keeper commonly 

 strikes the horse on its back with an open hand, at which, as if 



