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The First Encyclopedia of Ophthalmology
NOTES, CASES, INSTRUMENTS low of his hand; and to aid his ambi tious schemes, more than four millions of Frenchmen laid down their lives. This man, who could direct the mur der of the Due de Bourbon and who, by treachery, captured Toussaint L'Overture and tortured his victim; this man, who alternately exhibited the noble traits of a great mind and
T H E FIRST ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OPHTHALMOLOGY. JAMES
MOORES ST.
BALL,
M.D.,
LOUIS.
Read before the Ophthalmic Section of the St. Louis Medical Society, April 8, 1927.
The growth of ophthalmic literature has become one of the marvels of re cent years. Especially is this true of journal articles. In the past quartercentury comparatively few ophthalmic text-books have been issued in the English language. On the other hand, those few which have passed success fully thru the crucible of criticism have given their authors the satisfaction, as well as the labor and the worry, of repeated editions. Owing to the economic exigencies caused by the Great War, in both the United Kingdom and in the United States, consolidation of old, wellknown and honorably conducted oph thalmic periodical publications be came imperative. While, in a sense, this is a matter for regret; yet, on the other hand, the result of such fusions has been creditable to all parties concerned. The present day is a time of ency clopedias, not only in general literature but also in ophthalmology. Works of the latter class are not new. They date from the year 1808, when de Wenzel issued, in Paris, his two-volume "Man uel de rOculiste, dédié a sa Majesté I'Empereur et Roi," with the contents arranged alphabetically. This life is a queer admixture of con tradictions. The first encyclopedia of ophthalmology was dedicated to Na poleon. Of the many strong charac ters whose biographies adorn the bloody pages of history—for, the greater part of human history is made up of wars and of rumors of wars— there was not one whose life was more of a riddle, or was more tempestuous, than was that of Buonaparte. This man who was not a French man,* but was a Corsican, for years held a large part of Europe in the hol
609
the littleness of a despicable person, was, strange to say, the patron of ar tists and of scientists. He could not think of invading Egypt without carry ing with him a coterie of distinguished scientists! M. de Wenzel's "Manuel de I'Oculiste" is in two demi-octavo volumes, comprising 523 and 288 pages of text, respectively; and is illustrated with 24 *Napoleon was born at Aiaccio, in Corsica, on the 5th of February, 1768. H e afterwards gave out that he was born on 15th August, 1769, being his saint's day. In the interval be tween Feb., 1768, and Aug., 1769, Corsica was annexed to France, so that he could not have been a French citizen by nativity, without thus stating his birth.
610
NOTES, CASES A N D I N S T R U M E N T S
plates showing 68 figures which have been cut in copper. The pictures con cern a few operative procedures and many instruments. The accompany ing plate reproduces the title-page of Vol. I., Paris, 1808. H I G H M Y O P I A IN A C H I L D . L . L . MCCOY, M . D . SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.
Edgar S., age two years, eight months, white, apparently healthy, was seen Dec. 31, 1925. His mother, who is very intelligent, said she had noticed that the baby was in the habit of hold ing his toys extremely close to his eyes while at play. He had a number of styes in the four or five months be fore examination. Otherwise he was very well and always had been except for mild attacks of some of the chil dren's diseases. He was born by Caesarian section, as was his brother, who is six years of age and very well. The family history is irrelevant except for one or two slightly near sighted people on the mother's side, two or three generations previously. His mother and father have both been re fracted within the past two years and both are moderately hyperopic with very little astigmatism. Routine examination showed noth ing except that the patient always brought objects to within two to four inches of his eyes, when given them to look at. He was given atropin salve 1% to be used in his eyes each night for four nights, and then he was to be brought in again for refraction. The patient was a very good little fellow and allowed a very careful retinoscopy which showed: R. —15.50 with —4. cyl. ax. 180°. L. —15.00 with —5. cyl. ax. 180°. The ophthalmoscopic examination with a —15.00 lens showed the globes to be in good condition. —^16.505. with —4. cy. ax. 180°, right and left, were ordered. A recent letter from his mother states that he enjoys his glasses very much and tells her fre quently that he can see now. A big difference in his attitude has resulted.
I have been unable to find a case recorded in the literature of so high myopia in a child so young. A simi lar case, but less marked, in a Chinese boy eight years of age, was seen re cently. His refraction under atropin indicated, and he was given: R. —13.50S with —4.00 C. ax. 15°. L. —12.50S with —4.00 C. ax. 165°. The eyes otherwise were very nor mal. He was in today (July 22, 1926) and his glasses seemed very sat isfactory. It is not unusual to find moderate myopia in children of the Oriental races, and no doubt heredity plays a part, as myopia of moderate to high degree is quite prevalent in adults of Oriental origin, especially the women. This more or less racial characteristic has undoubtedly developed thru long years of very close visual application in the production of fine embroideries, carved ivory and other things of minute detail work. It is difficult to explain the very high myopia in the little boy above, as there seems to be very little, if any, familial tendency to nearsightedness, and since the child has never been to school or had any reason to use his eyes for close appli cation, it cannot be explained from that standpoint. One might say that the condition is a congenital deformity as is club-feet, torticolis, or any other malformation. I have been able to discover only very slight, if any, myopic changes in the fundus, such as myopic choroiditis, myopic conus about disc, etc., in my opic children ; but nearly always one or more myopic changes are to be seen in myopic adults. Usually the fundal changes are in direct proportion to the refractive condition. This is probably due to a difference in the texture of the tissues; the older the individual, the less elastic the tissues, hence the more easily the tissues are thinned and separated by stretching. Children with high myopia must be kept under close observation and their glasses kept checked up very carefully, also their daily reading habits and gen eral health must be closely guarded, because of the great probability of
T H E FIRST ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OPHTHALMOLOGY. JAMES
MOORES ST.
BALL,
M.D.,
LOUIS.
Read before the Ophthalmic Section of the St. Louis Medical Society, April 8, 1927.
The growth of ophthalmic literature has become one of the marvels of re cent years. Especially is this true of journal articles. In the past quartercentury comparatively few ophthalmic text-books have been issued in the English language. On the other hand, those few which have passed success fully thru the crucible of criticism have given their authors the satisfaction, as well as the labor and the worry, of repeated editions. Owing to the economic exigencies caused by the Great War, in both the United Kingdom and in the United States, consolidation of old, wellknown and honorably conducted oph thalmic periodical publications be came imperative. While, in a sense, this is a matter for regret; yet, on the other hand, the result of such fusions has been creditable to all parties concerned. The present day is a time of ency clopedias, not only in general literature but also in ophthalmology. Works of the latter class are not new. They date from the year 1808, when de Wenzel issued, in Paris, his two-volume "Man uel de rOculiste, dédié a sa Majesté I'Empereur et Roi," with the contents arranged alphabetically. This life is a queer admixture of con tradictions. The first encyclopedia of ophthalmology was dedicated to Na poleon. Of the many strong charac ters whose biographies adorn the bloody pages of history—for, the greater part of human history is made up of wars and of rumors of wars— there was not one whose life was more of a riddle, or was more tempestuous, than was that of Buonaparte. This man who was not a French man,* but was a Corsican, for years held a large part of Europe in the hol
609
the littleness of a despicable person, was, strange to say, the patron of ar tists and of scientists. He could not think of invading Egypt without carry ing with him a coterie of distinguished scientists! M. de Wenzel's "Manuel de I'Oculiste" is in two demi-octavo volumes, comprising 523 and 288 pages of text, respectively; and is illustrated with 24 *Napoleon was born at Aiaccio, in Corsica, on the 5th of February, 1768. H e afterwards gave out that he was born on 15th August, 1769, being his saint's day. In the interval be tween Feb., 1768, and Aug., 1769, Corsica was annexed to France, so that he could not have been a French citizen by nativity, without thus stating his birth.
610
NOTES, CASES A N D I N S T R U M E N T S
plates showing 68 figures which have been cut in copper. The pictures con cern a few operative procedures and many instruments. The accompany ing plate reproduces the title-page of Vol. I., Paris, 1808. H I G H M Y O P I A IN A C H I L D . L . L . MCCOY, M . D . SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.
Edgar S., age two years, eight months, white, apparently healthy, was seen Dec. 31, 1925. His mother, who is very intelligent, said she had noticed that the baby was in the habit of hold ing his toys extremely close to his eyes while at play. He had a number of styes in the four or five months be fore examination. Otherwise he was very well and always had been except for mild attacks of some of the chil dren's diseases. He was born by Caesarian section, as was his brother, who is six years of age and very well. The family history is irrelevant except for one or two slightly near sighted people on the mother's side, two or three generations previously. His mother and father have both been re fracted within the past two years and both are moderately hyperopic with very little astigmatism. Routine examination showed noth ing except that the patient always brought objects to within two to four inches of his eyes, when given them to look at. He was given atropin salve 1% to be used in his eyes each night for four nights, and then he was to be brought in again for refraction. The patient was a very good little fellow and allowed a very careful retinoscopy which showed: R. —15.50 with —4. cyl. ax. 180°. L. —15.00 with —5. cyl. ax. 180°. The ophthalmoscopic examination with a —15.00 lens showed the globes to be in good condition. —^16.505. with —4. cy. ax. 180°, right and left, were ordered. A recent letter from his mother states that he enjoys his glasses very much and tells her fre quently that he can see now. A big difference in his attitude has resulted.
I have been unable to find a case recorded in the literature of so high myopia in a child so young. A simi lar case, but less marked, in a Chinese boy eight years of age, was seen re cently. His refraction under atropin indicated, and he was given: R. —13.50S with —4.00 C. ax. 15°. L. —12.50S with —4.00 C. ax. 165°. The eyes otherwise were very nor mal. He was in today (July 22, 1926) and his glasses seemed very sat isfactory. It is not unusual to find moderate myopia in children of the Oriental races, and no doubt heredity plays a part, as myopia of moderate to high degree is quite prevalent in adults of Oriental origin, especially the women. This more or less racial characteristic has undoubtedly developed thru long years of very close visual application in the production of fine embroideries, carved ivory and other things of minute detail work. It is difficult to explain the very high myopia in the little boy above, as there seems to be very little, if any, familial tendency to nearsightedness, and since the child has never been to school or had any reason to use his eyes for close appli cation, it cannot be explained from that standpoint. One might say that the condition is a congenital deformity as is club-feet, torticolis, or any other malformation. I have been able to discover only very slight, if any, myopic changes in the fundus, such as myopic choroiditis, myopic conus about disc, etc., in my opic children ; but nearly always one or more myopic changes are to be seen in myopic adults. Usually the fundal changes are in direct proportion to the refractive condition. This is probably due to a difference in the texture of the tissues; the older the individual, the less elastic the tissues, hence the more easily the tissues are thinned and separated by stretching. Children with high myopia must be kept under close observation and their glasses kept checked up very carefully, also their daily reading habits and gen eral health must be closely guarded, because of the great probability of