Laceration of the eyelids, upper or lower, generally occurs in consequence of the presence of a nail or a splinter of wood, etc, projecting out from some part of the stall or box, against which the animal may accidentally strike its head during a sudden movement. Occasionally it happens that one of the lids is nearly torn off and left hanging by a small portion which still remains intact. Even this severe form of injury, however, need not discourage the operator, whose first duty is to cleanse the part with a little weak solution of carbolic acid, and then to adjust the edges of the wound with the greatest care, and apply a sufficient number of stitches with a very fine needle, so as to keep them in perfect apposition. No subsequent treatment will, as a rule, be necessary; the thin layer of lymph which exudes from the divided surfaces will act as a most perfect cement, and must on no account be disturbed. Generally, healing takes place by what is called first intention. Now and then, however, a small portion of the damaged structure may fail to unite. In such cases slight stimulation is desirable, when pencilling the edges of the wound very slightly with nitrate of silver will have a good effect. In most cases of injury of the kind described the cure is quite perfect, and when the healing process is concluded, the blemish which is left is exceedingly slight.

Some writers on diseases of the eyes of the horse refer to abscesses in the eyelids associated with catarrhal diseases of an acute type. This affection, which is very well known in human beings, i.e. stye (hordeum), is really a small abscess affecting some of the sebaceous or grease follicles on the edges of the lids. In the lower animals, however, this form of disease is very rare.