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William Zentmayer
CORRESPONDENCE Fund under the auspices of the same com mittee. The family of Dr. Friedenwald also contributed most generously to the fund. At no time has there been a public request for contributions. This fund has now been turned over the the trustees of the Associa tion for Research in Ophthalmology as a permanent endowment fund for the Frieden wald Lectureship. Further contributions to the fund are necessary if it is adequately to carry out this function. All those interested in perpetuating the memory of a great oph thalmologist whose contributions are so im portant to all ophthalmologists are invited and urged to send contributions. They may be sent to the secretary of the Association for Research in Ophthalmology, Dr. Lorand V. Johnson, 10515 Carnegie Avenue, Cleve land 6, Ohio. Suggestions for possible candidates for the awards would be welcomed by the trus tees. These may also be sent to Dr. Johnson. T. E. Sanders. WILLIAM ZENTMAYER It is with sorrow that T H E JOURNAL learns of the death on March 18th at his home in Merion Station, Pennsylvania, of William Zentmayer, one of the deans of American ophthalmology. A review of his life will appear in an early issue of T H E JOURNAL.
CORRESPONDENCE T H A N K YOU
Editor, American Journal of Ophthalmology: May I have the privilege of the hospitality of T H E JOURNAL for a personal message to many of my friends and colleagues. On my 60th birthday I received a Birth day Book which is so extraordinary that it is quite out of this world, containing mes sages from ophthalmological and medical bodies from practically every country in the world, as well as delightful messages from
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many individuals. To thank the latter indi vidually is a pleasure; to thank the official bodies is easy and an equal pleasure; but to thank everyone from the individual societies who have done me the great personal honour of signing the pages of the book, is an im possible task, for they are numbered in thou sands, many of them from America. Words are a very imperfect medium for expressing the thoughts which I feel, and I hope that those who showed me so much kindness will accept my thanks through this letter. Stewart Duke-Elder. SURGICAL APPROACH TO FOREIGN BODIES
Editor, American Journal of Ophthalmology: In the December, 1957, AMERICAN JOUR
(page 745) is an article, "Surgical approach to foreign bodies," which is so misleading and poten tially dangerous that certain statements therein should be challenged as to their authoritativeness. The authors refer to "pinpoint localization and precise mm. surgery." Precise surgery is impossible under the procedure described in this article. The "pinpoint localization" apparently consists of "two Sweet localiza tions." Operators experienced in the removal of intraocular foreign bodies know that Xray localizations cannot approach the accu racy of the Berman foreign body locator, which really pinpoints the location of a for eign body within a mm. The authors recommend an incision eight mm. from the limbus. Apparently they as sume that all foreign bodies are free in the vitreous. If they were, an exact X-ray locali zation would be quite unnecessary. Actually, foreign bodies which have enough velocity to perforate the sclera usually pass through the vitreous until they meet some more resistant tissue, such as the sclera, choroid, or retina, in which they are commonly imbedded, so that they are seldom free in the vitreous. If the operator attempts to move such a forNAL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY
CORRESPONDENCE T H A N K YOU
Editor, American Journal of Ophthalmology: May I have the privilege of the hospitality of T H E JOURNAL for a personal message to many of my friends and colleagues. On my 60th birthday I received a Birth day Book which is so extraordinary that it is quite out of this world, containing mes sages from ophthalmological and medical bodies from practically every country in the world, as well as delightful messages from
945
many individuals. To thank the latter indi vidually is a pleasure; to thank the official bodies is easy and an equal pleasure; but to thank everyone from the individual societies who have done me the great personal honour of signing the pages of the book, is an im possible task, for they are numbered in thou sands, many of them from America. Words are a very imperfect medium for expressing the thoughts which I feel, and I hope that those who showed me so much kindness will accept my thanks through this letter. Stewart Duke-Elder. SURGICAL APPROACH TO FOREIGN BODIES
Editor, American Journal of Ophthalmology: In the December, 1957, AMERICAN JOUR
(page 745) is an article, "Surgical approach to foreign bodies," which is so misleading and poten tially dangerous that certain statements therein should be challenged as to their authoritativeness. The authors refer to "pinpoint localization and precise mm. surgery." Precise surgery is impossible under the procedure described in this article. The "pinpoint localization" apparently consists of "two Sweet localiza tions." Operators experienced in the removal of intraocular foreign bodies know that Xray localizations cannot approach the accu racy of the Berman foreign body locator, which really pinpoints the location of a for eign body within a mm. The authors recommend an incision eight mm. from the limbus. Apparently they as sume that all foreign bodies are free in the vitreous. If they were, an exact X-ray locali zation would be quite unnecessary. Actually, foreign bodies which have enough velocity to perforate the sclera usually pass through the vitreous until they meet some more resistant tissue, such as the sclera, choroid, or retina, in which they are commonly imbedded, so that they are seldom free in the vitreous. If the operator attempts to move such a forNAL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY