658 
FILARIA IN THE EYE. 
The horse had been turned out early last spring (which 
will be remembered as an unusually wet one), and about that 
time the worm, which was one inch in length, was first 
discovered. Since then it has - grown several inches, and at 
the time of this writing looks like a piece of catgut from four 
to five inches in length. On account of its incessant motion 
no details concerning the parasite’s exact shape could be 
made out. As the present owner bought the horse for his 
eye, no one will be likely to have that satisfaction. 
This case makes the third, which so far as I can ascertain, 
has occurred in this country. The first on record was ex¬ 
hibited in this city in the latter part of the last century, and 
was reported by the late Judge Francis Hopkinson, in a 
paper read before the Philosophical Society, September 26th, 
1783*. He says : (i This worm was of a clear white colour, 
in size and appearance much like a piece of white bobbin. 
It seemed to be from two and a half to three inches in length. 
The creature was in constant lively vermicular motion, some- 
times retiring so deeply into the eye as not to be seen at all. 
I could not distinguish its head, neither end being perfectly 
exhibited while I viewed it; and, indeed, its motion was so 
brisk and constant as not to admit of so nice an examination. 
The horse’s eye was exceedingly inflamed, swollen, and run¬ 
ning, so that it was with difficulty the eye could be kept open 
for more than a few seconds at a time, and I was obliged to 
watch favorable moments for a distinct view of the tormentor. 
I believe (the judge goes on to say) the horse was quite 
blind in that eye, for it appeared as if all the humours were 
confounded together, and that the worm had the whole orb 
to range in.” 
This worm, I think, must also have been in the anterior 
chamber, for if the eye had been in the disorganised condition 
represented by the judge, the parasite could not have been 
seen at all. 
The second case, w hich was never reported, occurred in the 
practice of Dr. Th. N. Corbyn, Ph.D., V.S., of this city, who 
kindly gave me the following interesting account of it. “ I 
have had but one case in an experience extending over fifty 
years, and this occurred in the year 1833. The horse, the 
property of a physician in Alleghany City, Pa., had periodic 
attacks of ophthalmia. After the inflammation had subsided, 
I discovered the parasite floating in the aqueous humour. It 
was about two inches long. The case created quite a sensation 
at the time. I operated by penetrating the cornea, making the 
opening above ; the humour spurted out, and with it came the 
# ‘ Trans. Am. Philos. Soc., 5 1st series, vol. ii. 
