33
Documentary Evidence .
The following case was reported by Surgeon-Captain W. B. Browning, 31st Madras Light
Infantry, from Mangalore, on the 27th September 1887 :—
" Lieutenant A. of my regiment asked me in February 1886 to see his .horse which
was suffering from a ' sore eye' of ten days' duration ; the animal had been under native
treatment and had had laxative medicine internally and lotions externally. On examination,
the conjunctiva was found to be inflammed, a certain amount of photophobia was present,
and a worm was seen moving about visible; but owing to the general and deep opacity of the
cornea, the parasite could only be seen when it came close to the cornea. I had the horse
thrown and dropped a 5 per cent. solution of Cocaine in Glycerine into the eye ; after 5 minutes
I was able to separate the lids and touch the cornea; the membrana nictitans, however,appear-
ed to be still insensatised, and was constantly swept across the corneal surface. I succeeded
in applying Cocaine to this structure, and also again to the cornea ; after a period of 5 minutes
I found the superficial structure completely insensitive, and made an incision in the upper
and outer part of the cornea; the parasite was partially extruded with the first rush of the
aqueous humour, and was easily removed with a small forceps. It was about 3 inches in
length and had a hooked tail; with the parasite was also extracted a peculiar saccular piece
of membrane, about ¾ length of the parasite: this to the naked eye, when floated in water,
looked like an elongated sack with small enlargements at intervals, these being of a deeper
colour than other parts of the sack; if sack, it was ? The case did well and the opacity entirely
disappeared within a fortnight. The animal showed no sign of paralysis and was used for
15 months subsequently, when his owner left this station and I lost sight of the horse."
The following was reported by Veterinary, Surgeon T. J. Symonds, Army Veterinary
Department:—
" A chestnut waler gelding, 8 years old, the property of an officer, brought to me on the
2nd January 1883, reported to be suffering from a ' weak eye' " the off one, and had also taken
to shying."
" On examination I found the cornea opaque and a worm was seen moving rapidly in
the anterior chamber. Circumstances prevented me from attending to this case for ten days ;
at the expiration of that time I saw the horse, the eye was now so opaque that I could see
nothing, and as not the slightest sign of the worm could be detected, I determined not to
operate, as it is my rule never to puncture unless I see the worm before me. In addition to
the opacity we have just spoken of, the eye-lids were swollen and congested, and intense photo-
phobia was present. I directed cold water to be constantly applied, the horse to be kept in a
dark box, administered Potass: Iodid internally, waited for matters to develop themselves."
" In about four days' time the cornea cleared sufficiently for me to see the parasite, and
I then noticed that one extremity of it seemed to be attached to the iris and immoveable,
whilst the other was free and moving up and down, I was much struck with this, and deter-
mined to leave matters to themselves. In the course of a week or eight days the movement
of the free portion of the worm became more languid, died and divided, one piece remaining
attached to the iris, and the other fell to the bottom of the anterior chamber. All this time
the cornea was clearing, and I was enabled to follow the changes closely. The worm gradu-
ally became absorbed, that part which fell into the chamber disappeared first, and that on the
iris much slower. At the present time there is a small portion of the parasite firmly adherent
to the iris in two places, the litho graph illustrates this. A portion of a corpus nigrum has,
I fancy, been knocked off by the movement of the worm, and is directly in the centre of
vision, adherent to the capsule of the lens."
Monthly rainfall of Hossur (Government Depôt) for the years 1871-86.*
Year.
1871 ...
1872 ...
1873 ...
1874 ...
1875 ...
1876 ...
1877 ...
1878 ...
1879 ...
1880 ...
1881 ...
1882 ...
1883 ...
1884 ...
1885 ...
1886 ...
TOTAL ...
January.
0.30
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.45
2.40
0.00
0.60
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
3.75
February.
0.00
1.10
0.75
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
2.85
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
4.70
March.
6.40
0.00
0.20
0.25
0.70
0.00
0.55
0.00
1.25
0.00
1.20
0.00
0.18
0.00
1.05
0.10
11.88
April.
0.00
2.70
0.00
0.00
3.10
0.60
2.35
2.15
1.50
2 20
1.00
0.83
2.73
0.85
0.40
0.70
21.11
May.
4.55
7.33
0.00
9.98
8.15
5.15
1.71
4.10
3.25
9.85
2.61
6.93
2.85
2.40
1.56
6.00
76.42
June.
1.00
3.28
0.40
1.65
3.25
0.00
4.50
5.48
0.15
0.99
0.38
1.05
0.72
0.30
1.61
4.90
29.66
July.
2.80
1.65
0.20
2.32
1.48
0.90
0.50
4.30
9.57
4.89
0.35
3.18
2.73
0.15
0.95
6.75
42.72
August.
3.98
5.35
5.33
6.67
0.60
5.93
1.11
9.25
2.85
7.36
5.17
9.47
7.70
3.75
0.20
7.40
82.12
September
5.15
6.38
3.18
11.40
1.35
4.18
11.15
4.00
3.87
0.80
10.92
2.36
1.50
1.47
3.16
11.05
81.92
October
3.90
3.00
7.25
8.73
2.72
0.08
12.38
3.00
4.61
8.86
0.37
2.03
12.80
6.93
12.46
1.75
90.87
November.
4.70
5.95
0.60
5.40
0.45
0.00
4.54
2.25
1.70
5.23
4.38
10.76
3.58
3.66
2.55
4.48
60.23
December.
0.00
4.68
1.58
0.30
0.00
0.00
0.20
0.65
0.00
0.05
0.08
0.70
3.18
1.98
6.25
0.00
19.65
Total.
32.78
41.42
19.49
46.70
21.80
16.84
38.99
35.18
32.05
42.63
26.46
37.91
37.97
21.49
30.19
43.13
525.03
* Vide page 19. Season and Rainfull.