16 EXAMINATION OF HORSES 
employed by the most unpractised; so much so, 
that frequently when I have been asked regarding the 
cause of “shying,” and on examining the horse’s lens 
with a lighted candle and the mirror part of, the 
ophthalmoscope, have found the most minute speck 
of cataract, I have delighted the owner by allowing 
him to see that which has been the cause of the shy- 
ing in this way. To use an ophthalmoscope effi- 
ciently requires almost as much practice as it does 
to play the pianoforte, it being the most difficult to 
use of any instrument in the whole of surgery, not 
excluding the lithotrite; but any one may use the 
mirror part at once. When doing so, any opacities 
of the cornea or lens appear as dark spots upon a 
bright red background. I need hardly say that any 
trace of opacity in either the lens or its capsule is 
an unsoundness which cannot be passed over. 
Having got so far, and the eyes being found all 
right, we next bring the horse out of the stable, and, 
when possible, place him on level ground. During 
the next manceuvre—that of walking round the horse, 
and taking a general view of him—we have often to 
find fault with dealers’ men for holding the animal; 
with the head up, instead of their taking a long hold 
of the bridle or halter, and allowing the horse to 
have his head free. This is really important, for at 
this stage it often happens that we find blemishes 
which would render it unnecessary to continue the 
examination; some of which blemishes may be con- 
