INFLAMMATION OF THE CONJUNCTIVA. 353 



due to a loosening or softening of the tarsal cartilage as a result 

 of prolonged conjunctivilis. 



Clinical Symptoms. The affected eyelid is turned up and out, 

 so as to show the conjunctiva. The latter is inflamed from the 

 action of the air and is more or less reddened, and at the same 

 time there is considerable secretion of mucus and tears along the 

 cheeks (lachrymal eyes). 



Therapeutic Treatment. We must first endeavor to reduce 

 by " touching" the connective tissue of the eyelid with a pencil 

 of nitrate of silver or sulphate of copper, or by removing a portion 

 of the eyelid. This, however, is extremely hard to do, and, as a 

 rule, it is not advisable. If these measures are useless, or if they 

 seem doubtful from the onset, Moller recommends to excise from 

 the external half of the affected lid an arch-shaped piece of skin, 

 0.5 to 1 cm. broad, the arched edge standing from the edge of the 

 lid. Placing a few stitches is advisable, but is really not necessary. 



Concerning other diseases of the eyelids, we would refer you to 

 text-books on ophthalmology. 



DISEASES OP THE CONJUNCTIVA. 



Inflammation of the Conjunctiva — Conjunctivitis. 

 [Conjunctivitis ; Syndesmitis.) 



Inflammatory conditions of the conjunctiva are the most frequent 

 affections of the eye in the dog, and appear in various ways accord- 

 ing to their cause. Under ordinary circumstances we see the 

 development of a simple catarrh of the conjunctiva, which, like 

 all catarrhs of the mucous membrane, causes swelling, great red- 

 ness, and formation of loose folds of tissue. The redness may 

 vary from a slight injection to a dark or bluish-red coloration. 

 This is, as a rule, regular and rarely spotted with blood extrava- 

 sations. The secretion of the mucous membrane is sero-mucous 

 in the beginning, but later on becomes muco-purulent, and in some 

 cases there is a peculiar grayish secretion. This secretion becomes 

 agglutinated to the interstices and corners of the eyelids, producing 

 a gluing together of the lashes, and during the night, when the 

 animal is asleep, it dries up, forming a grayish-yellow adhe- 

 sive mass. The inflammation is usually restricted to the conjunc- 



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