62 Stable Management and the Prevention of Disease 



trace of the puncture remains, except a small white spot or 

 line where the lancet has entered. 



I have always made the wound at the lower and posterior 

 part of the cornea, in order that the objects in front of the 

 horse might be seen without their distinctness being in any 

 way interfered with by the scar. I never cast the horse, but 

 merely let my fingers rest upon the cheek with the point of 

 a small narrow lancet close to the eye until the animal left 

 off winking, and then, choosing a moment when the worm 

 was in the lower part of the chamber, made the puncture so 

 rapidly that there was no time for the patient to move his 

 eye or head. 



When done in this way the aqueous humour gushes over 

 the hand and almost invariably brings the worm with it. 

 In my own practice it has failed to do so in only one 

 instance, when the parasite was so large that not more than 

 half his body came out of the aperture, and before I could 

 seize it he drew himself back into the anterior chamber. By 

 the following morning he had crawled out, and was found 

 still alive inside the eyelid, but his movements had so injured 

 the iris that the sight was permanently destroyed. 



After the operation a wet rag should be kept hanging over 

 the eye to keep it cool and shield it from the light, until the 

 inflammation has disappeared. 



General Sir Frederick Fitzwygram, in his book on ' Horses 

 and Stables,' recommends the puncture to be made at the 

 upper and inner part of the cornea. The upper part is 

 undoubtedly a better situation than the lower, because no 

 scar can be left in the line of vision when the horse is 

 observing objects on or near the ground. It is also better 

 because there is less likelihood of the rapid healing of the 

 wound being hindered by the aqueous humour trickling 

 through it. It would be necessary to cast a horse for this 

 operation, and have his eyelids held well apart before 

 puncturing. 



Wherever the incision is made, care should be taken to 

 let the lancet enter obliquely, and in a direction almost 

 parallel to the iris. There will then be no chance of wound- 



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