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The Cause of Blindness in England and Wales
BOOK REVIEWS cc.) locally in a progressive corneal ulcer caused by a Gram-negative bacillus which did not react to any other form of treatment. Belz emphasized the importance of the rela tive hemianopia in the localization and evaluation of intracranial lesions. P. Bonnet was surprised about the quiet ness and immobility in the fundus in a patient with auriculoventricular block. E. Blanc and G. Bonamour think that the syn drome of the section of the optic nerve, namely, amaurosis, mydriasis, and disappear ing of the light reflex, sometimes might not be caused by direct trauma to the nerve, but by a reflex spasm of the central artery. They describe a similar case in which a temporary amaurosis preceded the development of a pulsating exophthalmos. Other papers dealt with a keratitis caused by a caterpillar hair (Paufique and Durix), recurrent retinal hemorrhages (Bonnet, Belz, and Couadau), mescaline as a vasodilator (Chaumerliac and Roche), and a case of Laurence-Moon-Biedl disease, treated with a pituitary transplant (Paufique and Guinet). Belz, Couadau, and Vincent presented a case with grouped pigmentation; Paufique and Guinet observed three young persons with melanotic tumors of the choroid. Bercher, Belz, and Barret consider Sj^gren's syndrome an imbalance in the
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glandular, parasympathetic, and sympathetic system, possibly caused by infection. Bonnet and H. Chavanne cauterized first one vortex vein, later the ciliary body, in a case of hypotony of many months' duration, following a contusion of the eyeball with a pine cone. Alice R. Deutsch.
T H E CAUSE OF BLINDNESS IN ENGLAND AND
WALES. By Arnold Sorsby. Medical Re search Council Memorandum, No. 24. London, His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1950. 42 pages. In this survey based on 19,149 certificates of blindness, extensive data are displayed in tabulated form and their significance is ana lysed. There certainly was no striking in crease in the incidence of blindness but neither was it possible to demonstrate a de crease. Considerable modifications in the relative importance of the different causes have been demonstrated in childhood but changes must also have occurred in the adult population. Tuberculosis, syphilis, and tra choma must be less significant as a cause of blindness in adults than they were in the relatively recent past. Problems and pros pects are also discussed. F. H. Haessler.
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glandular, parasympathetic, and sympathetic system, possibly caused by infection. Bonnet and H. Chavanne cauterized first one vortex vein, later the ciliary body, in a case of hypotony of many months' duration, following a contusion of the eyeball with a pine cone. Alice R. Deutsch.
T H E CAUSE OF BLINDNESS IN ENGLAND AND
WALES. By Arnold Sorsby. Medical Re search Council Memorandum, No. 24. London, His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1950. 42 pages. In this survey based on 19,149 certificates of blindness, extensive data are displayed in tabulated form and their significance is ana lysed. There certainly was no striking in crease in the incidence of blindness but neither was it possible to demonstrate a de crease. Considerable modifications in the relative importance of the different causes have been demonstrated in childhood but changes must also have occurred in the adult population. Tuberculosis, syphilis, and tra choma must be less significant as a cause of blindness in adults than they were in the relatively recent past. Problems and pros pects are also discussed. F. H. Haessler.