116 
DISEASES OF HORSES IN INDIA. 
formed as above described. With respect to the operation itself, 
I would suggest the propriety of making the section near the 
margin of the cornea, as being less likely to cause extensive 
opacity ; for, as I have already observed, the apex of the trian¬ 
gular opacity extends to the point where the puncture is made. 
Making the section now proposed would probably be attended 
with some difficulty, and be liable to objection ; as the iris 
might be wounded during the operation, and would be liable to 
prolapsus afterwards, if the incision of the cornea were large. 
The existence of a living worm in the aqueous humour of the 
eyes of horses, producing a turbid state of that humour, and 
deep-seated inflammation, is an interesting fact in its relations 
to the pathology of the horse; and to the natural history of the 
animalcule which causes a train of diseased actions, that have 
not hitherto been satisfactorily explained. The result of my in¬ 
quiries leads me to believe, that destruction of vision is the in¬ 
variable result of this disease, unless the worm be extracted. 
It is farther worthy of notice, that horses with the worm in the 
eye are often affected with debility of the loins. A knowledge 
of this circumstance would probably render individuals cautious 
in purchasing horses, whether for their own use or for the public 
service. However, I have known horses in Ceylon to have been 
active and serviceable many months after the extraction of the 
worm. » 
Some facts and observations by Mr. Breton relative to Filaria, 
already before the Society, afford sufficient proof of the fre¬ 
quency of this disease in the eyes of horses in India, and of 
its being attended with debility of the loins; but we have no 
proof of the immediate cause of the latter symptom, unless it 
be granted that a general affection of a specific nature is evinc¬ 
ed in one part by debility of the loins, and in another by a 
worm in the eye. 
" As worms precisely similar to those in the eyes of horses 
exist also in the cellular substance of that animal, and are met 
with more particularly by the sides of the lumbar vertebrae in 
great numbers, I am of opinion that the debility of the loins 
may be ascribable to their presence in the cellular substance 
about the spine; and thus what appeared at first sight an ex¬ 
traordinary coincidence of different diseases in distant parts, 
may be no other than the same disease prevalent in the system 
generally. 
Dr. Hardtman was the first person who informed me of the 
existence of these worms in the cellular substance, by the sides 
of the lumbar vertebrm; and, since his communication, I have 
received a letter from Captain Wyatt, of the Honorable Com- 
