CATARACT. 55 
less purity?” Before those walls, with its head tied to the manger, 
stands the animal through the hours of the day. Close to its nose 
shines the painful whiteness which the master so enjoys. Is it, then, sur- 
prising (seeing how nature for its own wise purposes has connected all 
life) that the equine eye, doomed to perpetual excitement, sometimes 
shows disease ? 
A horse with imperfect vision is a dangerous animal. A small speck 
upon the lens confuses the sight as much as a comparatively large mark 
upon the cornea. To render this clear, let the reader hold a pen close to 
the eye; it prevents more vision than yonder huge post obstructs. So 
impediments are important, as they near the optic nerve. The lens 
is nearer than the cornea, and therefore any opacity upon the first 
structure is more to be dreaded. 
However, let it be imagined a horse, with an opacity upon the pupil, 
and the sight confused by staring at a white flat mass spread out before 
it, is led forth for its master’s use. By the aid of the groom and its own 
recollections, it manages to tread the gangway, and even to reach the 
well-known house door in safety. The owner, an aged gentleman, of the 
highest respectability, comes forth in riding costume. He mounts, and 
throwing the reins upon the neck of the animal, sets his nag into walking 
motion, while he, erect and stately, looks about him and proceeds to pull 
on his gloves. The horse, however, has not gone many steps before the 
cataract and the confused vision, acting conjointly, produce alarm. The 
steed shies and the gentleman loses his seat, being very nearly off. The 
passengers laugh, the proprietor suffers in his temper, but the whip is 
used, and the equestrian is soon out of sight. 
The man and horse proceed some distance; the gentleman becomes 
much more calm, and the horse recovers sufficient composure to try and 
look around it. The pace now is rather brisk, when the horse thinks, or 
its disabled vision causes it to imagine, it sees some frightful object in the 
distance. The timid animal suddenly wheels round. The rider is not 
prepared for the eccentric motion: he is shot out of the saddle. He falls 
upon his head; he is picked up and carried home; but afterward he 
avoids the saddle. 
Never buy the horse with imperfect vision; never have the interior of 
your stable whitewashed. Then what color is to be employed? Probably 
blue would absorb too many of the rays of light; at all events, it seems 
preferable to copy nature. Green is the livery of the fields. In these 
the eyes take no injury, although the horse’s head be bent toward the 
grass for the greater number of the hours. Consequently, the writer rec- 
ommends that green wash, which is cheap enough, should be employed, 
instead of the obnoxious white, for the interior of stables. 
