Systematic Inspection of the Eye. 323 



imply any one of a great variety of disorders which should be 

 followed out to their accurate diagnosis. It may be bruises, 

 lacerations, punctures, parasites, conjunctivitis, keratitis, dropsy, 

 anaemia, hepatic or intestinal parasitism, nephritis, paresis, 

 entropion, ectropion, etc. 



2d. Inspect the cilia as regards form, size and direction. 

 Absence or wrong direction may imply disease of the Meibonian 

 glands, infective inflammation, demodex or other acarian infest- 

 ing, or turning in or out in inflammatory conditions. 



3d. See that the lachrymal puncta are open and that 

 there is no overdistension of the sac. The overflow of tears 

 and the swelling of the caruncle and of the area beneath it will 

 often indicate such trouble. In its turn it may imply inflamma- 

 tion of the duct, and obstruction by the tenacious mucopurulent 

 product, or it may imply merely obstruction of its lower end by a 

 dried scab. This last may be seen in the horse, on the floor of the 

 false nostril at the line of junction of the skin and mucosa, and in 

 the ass, higher up on the inner side of the ala nasi. In excep- 

 tional cases it may be desirable to pass a stilet through the canal 

 from the puncta downward or from below upward to determine 

 whether it is pervious. 



4th. Determine the vascularity of the conjunctiva. When 

 free from pigment as it habitually is in pigs and birds this is 

 easily done, while in animals like the horse, in which the bulbar 

 portion, which covers the sclerotic, is largely pigmented, we can 

 scrutinize only the pigment-free parts. In health there should 

 be only a few, fine, pink vessels which move with the mucosa 

 when pressed aside on the bulb. In congestion the surface may 

 appear brick red, and the vessels are irregular, large, tortuous and 

 are seen to anastomose at frequent intervals. These move on the 

 bulb when pressed. The congestion is usually deepest on the 

 palpebral mucosa and in the cut de sac, and may be whitened for 

 an instant by pressure through the eyelid. To expose the con- 

 junctiva the right fore finger and thumb may be pressed on the 

 upper and lower lids respectively of the left eye, and the left 

 finger and thumb for the right, allowing them to slide backward 

 above and below the eyeball. Another method is to seize the 

 cilia and edge of the upper eyelid between the finger and thumb. 



