Corneal and lenticular complications after trephining

CORRESPONDENCE, OBITUARIES reference, on page thirty-nine, to the fact that Morgenroth and his collab­ orators as well as Hirschfelder, Jensen, and Swanson have found optochin or ethylhydrocuprein (a derivative of qui­ nine) to possess materially greater power of killing the pneumococcus than is possessed by quinine itself. W. H. Crisp. CORRESPONDENCE Corneal and lenticular complications after trephining To the editor: Recently I saw the fol­ lowing case, and I am writing to ask whether readers of the Journal can of­ fer an explanation of the phenomena. A white man fifty years old was blind in the left eye from chronic simple glaucoma; tension 60 mm., deep cup with atrophy. Right eye tension 45 mm., media clear, advanced cupping, fields about fifty percent lost. Advised trephining both eyes. Septic mouth cleaned up, kidneys normal. Blood pressure moderately elevated, moderate vascular sclerosis. Elliot trephining was performed on both eyes with iridectomy and good conjunctival flap. Atropin one percent solution used in each eye. Both eyes were inspected in thirty-six hours. Now come the unusual features : both corneas were very steamy, both wounds filtering and tension less than normal (?), both lenses looked milky, though this was difficult to be certain about when seen through the very steamy cornea. Hot packs and atropin were used and in ten days the cornea cleared but both lenses progressed to complete uniform cataract. The tension in the left eye rose slowly but the globe was quiet. The right globe also became quiet and tension never rose above 25 mm. Schi^tz. After three months I did an extracapsular linear extraction (right eye) with deep scleral incision, found a very soft gummy lens, washed out most of the cortex, the rest was absorbed. Now there is a very deep anterior chamber with a thin secondary membrane. The patient can count fin­ gers at eight to ten feet and the globe is quiet. Should I do a discission?

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I am interested in finding a satisfac­ tory explanation for the phenomena in the corneas and lenses; the lenses were not traumatized and I do not believe that any retinal hemorrhage occurred, as the field of the right eye is good. X OBITUARIES Samuel Theobald In the death of Samuel Theobald, on December 20, 1930, in the eighty-fourth year of his age, ophthalmology, general medicine, and a large circle of friends sustained a great loss. He came from lines distinguished in the art and science of medicine. His father sprang from English stock. The first member of the Theobald family in this country, Clement Theobald, set­ tled in lower Norfolk County, Virginia, in 1641. On his mother's side, his great grandfather, Dr. Nathan Smith, organ­ ized the medical schools of Yale, Dart­ mouth, and Bowdoin, and assisted in the founding of Jefferson Medical School of Philadelphia. He was one of the great pioneers of American Medi­ cine. The grandfather of Dr. Theo­ bald, Dr. Nathan Ryno Smith, called "the Emperor", cooperated with his father and other distinguished men in the organization of the Jefferson Medi­ cal College just mentioned. He was one of the pioneers in otology in America. The French gave him the title of "the Nestor of American surgery". Samuel Theobald, son of Dr. Elisha Warfield Theobald and Sara Frances Smith Theobald, was born in Baltimore on November 12, 1846. On April 30, 1867, Dr. Theobald married Caroline Dexter De Wolf, of Bristol, Rhode Is­ land—a happy union that lasted sixtyone years. He is survived by two daughters, one son, eleven grandchil­ dren, and fourteen great grandchildren. Dr. Theobald received his early edu­ cation at a well known private school in Baltimore. Later, instead of going to college, he worked and studied in the office of his grandfather, Dr. Nathan Ryno Smith; and in 1867, when twen­ ty-one years of age, he graduated at the University of Maryland. After his graduation, he continued his associa-