The Sun.
London, England, 1850-12-13 00:00:00

THE SUN,

seen, which led to its being wounded in one eve and
bleeding freely. The cataracts having been thoroughly
tiestro3 ed, the bear It as drawn again into the den.
For some rainutes he continued in a state of profound
coma, giving scarcely any evidence of life, but gra-
dually recovered, and rising with some difficulty he
staggered into his sleeping apartment.
On my going to his den the following morning the
door of the dormitory was thrown open,. and to my
surprise, he came out with his eyes open, faced the
light without the slightest inconvenience, and began
licking his paws with perfect satisfaction. A dose of
Rochelle salts was given to him rather as a matter of
precaution than because they were needed, and his
recovery was rapid, not one red vessel discolouring
the conjunctiva at any time.
Encouraged by this result, a similar operation was
performed on the second bear on November 15th.
This animal was brought out of the den and secured
to the iron rail in front by six men, and was thus more
manageable. The dose administered on the first oc-
casion being rather greater than ewas needed, Dr.
Snow this time used chloroform and spirit in equal
proportions. The bear not being perfectly insensible
when I commenced, there was some difficulty with the
left eye, for at each attempt to insert the needle the cor-
nea turned in beneath the membrana nictitans, and was
quite invisible. At length, by plunging the instrn-
inent perpendicularly to the surface, the very tough
cornea was :penetrated, and the cataract broken up.
To obviate such a movement in the right eye, the
needle was introduced at the inner and lower margin
of the cornea, and the operation easily completed.
The recovery of this animal was quite as rapid as the
former, and considerable progress has already been
made in the absorption of the fragments, which may
be expected to occupy a longer time than in the human
sulject from the great size of the lens.
An interesting series of experiments by Dr. Diete-
rich proved that the eyes of animals will undergo
considerable injury with impunity, which is con-
firmed by these operations. Solution is well borne by
them, and neither bandages nor after-treatment are re-
quired. Extraction would be highly improper, the
cataracts being always soft and yielding readily to the
needle. Future operations will be facilitated by at-
tention to the following points :—The pupil should be
well dilated by atropine; the needle strong, ex•
trernely sharp, and cutting for not less than one-sixth
of an inch. The animal should be fully under the
influence of chloroform, which is best applied by
pouries; it into the hollow of a sponge and tying it to
the muzzle with a handkerchief. To prevent the eye
rolling in, the point of puncture may be at the mar-
gin of the lower and inner fourth of the cornea. The
operator must he prepared for great toughness of tlix
membrane; and the magnitude of the lens will re.
quire free use of the needle.
Betkeley-square, Dec., 1850.

BANK OF ENGLAND.
(From this night's Gazette.)
An Account, pursuant to the Act 7th and Bth of Victoria, cap. 32, for
the Week ending on Saturday, the 7th day of Deumber, 1850.

ISSUR DEPARTMENT.
£• 1

Notes issued.... .. 2934?,915

Government debt .. 11,015,100
Other securities .... 2,984,900
Gold coin and bullion 15,303,248
Silver bullion ...... 45,667

429,318,915 I 4 29,348,915
M. MARSHALL, Chief Cashier.
Dated the 12th day of December, 1850.