WORM IN THE EYE. 
71 
not use stables. I preferred cold water affusion in fever. I 
did not like counter-irritation in this climate, till I had 
reduced the fever, when a blister in the head is, of course, a 
means of cure. 
WORM IN THE EYE. 
(By the same.) 
Worm in the eye is endemial at the same places where 
horses are found with weakness of the loins (kumuree); but 
I saw no necessary connexion between them, for horses from 
whose eyes I have extracted worms, have not had kumuree. 
That a worm in the brain would produce inflammation, may 
be true, but there is no proof of it having been found. How 
the worm gets into the eye, no one has yet discovered ; some- 
times the worm is larger than at other times, and certain it is 
that its presence is immediate, as shown by opacity of the 
cornea, which its movements immediately cause to begin. 
The most likely way of entrance is by the optic nerve; but, as 
the same worm is found in other parts of the body, mostly 
under the peritoneum, it no doubt can make its way through 
the tissues. I have found the same worm among the muscles 
in smelts of the Elbe, and there are cases in the Veterinarian 
of its being found in the eye of oxen in France. When your 
native groom comes and says, the horse has worm in the eye 
\itpna (your) zora (horse) he ank (eye) me keerah (worm) hy 
said ] , it is of no use waiting to consider how it got there, as 
the cornea, now transparent, soon becomes opaque, and then 
you are not able to see whether or not you have been suc- 
cessful in its extraction. You should guard a small lancet by 
wrapping tow nearly to the point, or provide, what is 
better, a small trochar, with which puncture the transparent 
cornea at the upper canthus ; to do this, I prefer casting the 
horse, and holding the nose upwards. The worm will escape 
by a very small opening. When the cornea is opaque, 
spread a cloth, so that you may be able to find the worm and 
know that it is extracted. Covering the eye with a cloth 
wetted with cold water is the only after treatment required. 
If the worm be not extracted, the loss of the eye is certain to 
happen; therefore, if you should fail, introduce a small hooked 
instrument, and extract the worm. 
I sent one worm from Calcutta in 1822, which was in the 
Museum at the Veterinary College. 
