44 SIMPLE OPHTHALMIA. 
consequences have passed; the vision is interfered with, and timidity 
becomes an inveterate shyer. 
Also, from the manner in which the rack is placed, a hay-seed fre- 
quently falls into the eye. The hay is always kept in the loft above the 
stables, and a narrow trap-door opens into the rack. This is very con- 
venient for the groom; how could any architect be so very “maudlin” 
as to design a stable with the slightest consideration for a horse? At 
every mouthful the head has to be raised and the provender pulled out; 
probably, human ingenuity could not invent a machine more likely to be 
_ attended with injury. The head uplifted, the eye open to direct the bite, 
the dry grass shaken to pull out the morsel, of course the loose parti- 
cles are dislodged, and what wonder if one of the hay-seeds should fall 
into the open eye? This body is small, dry, harsh, and sharp; moved 
about by the motion of the lid it commits fearful ravages upon the tender 
organ to which it has found admittance, and simple ophthalmia is the 
consequence. 
Man is too proud to learn from nature, or he might observe horses 
always depress their heads when in the field. The common parent, with 
care for all her children’s comfort, makes the animal stoop to crop the 
herbage; man causes the creature to upraise and outstretch the neck to 
reach its sustenance. However, the horse is not always free from acci- 
dents when it quits the stall. Carters often amuse the weary way by 
striking what they term a ‘stubborn and foolish horse” over the head 
with the butt end of the whip. This action, though most irritating to 
witness, is generally less important in its results than any of the injuries 
previously remarked upon. The lid shields the eye; consequently, a 
largely swollen covering and a slightly injured membrane are the conse- 
quences. 
Many brutal drivers have “a happy nack” of kicking at the head of 
a fallen animal to make it rise. This act may extinguish vision or pro- 
voke simple ophthalmia; but, it is hoped, all such are exceptional cases, 
therefore these are willingly not remarked upon. 
Frequently horses try to while away the long hours of confinement 
by playing with one another; one horse will lean its head over the divi- 
sion to the stalls and for hours together lick its fellow prisoner’s neck. 
Sometimes a day’s rest begets high spirits, and the animals indulge in a 
more boisterous amusement; they bite and snap at one another’s heads. 
Domestication has, however, disabled the creature to nicely measure dis- 
tances; standing all day long with the nose close to a glaring white wall 
has probably impaired the vision. One horse projects its teeth too far; 
they simply graze the eye; but a small flap of membrane is the conse- 
quence. The bite of an enraged horse is fearful; and were not the 
