The presence of foreign bodies

The presence of foreign bodies

The presence of foreign bodies

Causes. The causes of external opththalmia are mainly those that act locally blows with whips, clubs, and twigs, the presence of foreign bodies, like hayseed, chaff, dust, lime, sand, snuff, pollen of plants, flies attracted by the brilliancy of the eye, wounds of the bridle, the migration of the scabies (mange) insect into the eye, smoke, ammonia arising from the excretions, irritant emanations from drying marshes, etc. Road dust containing infecting microbes is a common factor. A very dry air is alleged to act injuriously by drying the eye as well as by favoring the production of irritant dust; the undue exposure to bright sunshine through a window in front of the stall, or to the reflection from snow or water, also is undoubtedly injurious. The unprotected exposure of the eyes to sunshine through the use of a very short overdraw check is to be condemned, and the keeping of the horse in a very dark stall, from which it is habitually led into the glare of full sunlight, intensified by reflection from snow or white limestone, must be set down among the locally acting causes. Exposure to cold and wet, to wet and snow storms, to cold drafts and wet lairs must also be accepted as causes of conjunctivitis, the general disorder which they produce affecting the eye, if that happens to be the weakest and most susceptible organ of the body, or if it has been subjected to any special local injury, like dust, irritant gases, or excess of light. Again, external opththalmia is a constant concomitant of inflammation of the contiguous and continuous mucous membranes, as those of the nose and throat hence the red, watery eyes that attend on nasal catarrh, sore throat, influenza, strangles, nasal glanders, and the like. In such cases, however, the affection of the eye is subsidiary and is manifestly overshadowed by the primary and predominating disease.