446 Veterinary Medicine. 



FILARIA OCULI EQUINA. FIIvARIA PAPILLOSA. FILARIA 

 PELLUCIDA. 



The presence of a thread-like worm in the eye of the horse is 

 mentioned by Spigel (1622), by Rayo in Spain, in horse and 

 mule (1773), Morgan and Hopkinson records a case in the 

 horse's eye as exhibited in Philadelphia, in 1782. In the 19th- 

 century it has been especially observed in the horses of India, 

 Ceylon and Burniah, but also not infrequently in Europe and 

 America. In one case occurring in New York the author ex- 

 tracted the worm through an incision in the margin of the cornea 

 and restored the vision of the animal. It is said to be unknown 

 in Arabia and Persia. 



Gibb, who resided for sixteen years at Posaah, India, on a low 

 damp soil, constantly water-soaked, and covered with puddles, 

 .saw on an average twenty cases per annum. The wetter the 

 season the greater the number of succeeding cases. These oc- 

 curred mostlj' in the cold season, never before the month of 

 October nor after the first of March. In colder latitudes this 

 does not hold, Skeavington reporting three ca.ses in March, May 

 and September, Smith (Toronto) and Kennedy (India), one 

 each in Maj', and Lee (New York) one from February to June. 

 The young suffer more frequently than the old. 



The identity of this parasite has been disputed. Kennedy 

 makes it a distinct species (Filaria Pellucida), Gras.si, the F. 

 inermis, and Neumann and Rivolta consider it the young of the 

 F. papillosa. Davaine's description is as follows : body thread- 

 like, reddish white or chestnut, and a little expanded in its ceph- 

 alic quarter ; integument smooth ; mouth furnished with three 

 triangular lips ; tail acute with two long and strong papillae at 

 the sides, a little in advance of the end and directed backward. 

 Male 30 to 35 mm. long, tail .spiral and having between the two 

 caudal papillae, six papillae on each side — three pre-anal and three 

 post-anal ; three short spicula, one .smaller than the others. 

 Female 22 mm. to 32 mm. long, genital tube destitute of ova. 



Grassi's description is as follows : The female only is known. 

 Body white or browni.sh, flaccid, slightly attenuated at the ex- 

 tremities. Integument striated transversely and longitudinally. 

 Head without papillae. Mouth terminal, very small, without 

 papillae. CEsophagus slightly enlarged in its posterior portion. 



