Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-03-14
LET THERE BE LIGHT.
Surgical Operation for Cataract OF
the Eye-A Few Scientific Facts.

the Bye-A Few Scientific Facts.
A few days ago child, aged ten years,
was subjected to a surgical operation for
congenital cataract. The subject has never
been able to sec anything clearly and was,
as indicated by the specific character of her
affliction, almost totally blind from birth.
While on the cars, en- route for this city,
she was heard to call the name possibly
with some faint psrception) Of tree. Yet,
so faint were her perceptive powers, that
she was unable to distinguish COW from
a dog. The operation vas performed by
DR.. Paul F. Eve, and, from subsequent
symptoms, we have every reason to be-
lieve, successfully, and will result in the
power Of sight.
That the popularity erroneous idea that q
cataract is Skin, mucous membrane or
abnormal fold covering the eye destroying
in that particular way the vision) is not con
fiued to the illiterate only and those not con-
versant with surgery, is illustrated in the
oft repeated figure, yet laughable smile OF
preachers exhorting their hearers to re-
move the cataract of sin and vice. Hippo
crates said "So cataract could be on the
eye,n and the experimental science OF hui
man ills conclusively shows he was right.
For a Cataract is an affection of the crystal
line lens back of the pupil. Hence the ope-
ration for its remedy is not to remove it
from the eye, but only to remove it from
the axis of vision. The child operated on
BY DR.. Eve has large eyes with full
globes, and its actions might be condu-
Give of some Information relating
to the theory that touch affords an original
knowledge of extension, or external OBJ
iects. 1t was Palmer who contended that
''empirical space, empirical extension, is
dependent upon the sense of sight," and
the question determining the relations of
sight and touch to external objects, is one
of much interest and severe difference Of
opinion.
After the operation was concluded, the
child was afraid of the light, and shrank
from its invading brightness. Seeing the
fire she was very much alarmed, and
screamed with terror as its light fell on her
vision. That it was painful is undoubted,
but how far her feelings, her surprise and
the wonder attending the recognition In
this, to her, strange manner, may have con-
ditionally caused the fear, cannot be salts
factorily demonstrated, since the relation
between the sense Of sight and touch (espe-
cially when the former has never been eX-
erted) are not known.
Dr. Cheselden speaking of young gen
tleman who had congenital cataract and
was relieved by surgical operation, relates
among other things, "When he first saw,
he was so far from making any judgment
about distances, that he thought all objects
whatever touched by his eyes Gas he ex-
pressed it) as what he did his skin, and
oi1ianfo anronahlQ thnsn
which were smooth and regular, though
he could form no judgment of their shape,
or guess what it was in any object that was
pleasing to him. He knew not The shape
of anything, nor any one thing from anoth-
er, however different in shape or magni-
tude; but upon being told what things were,
whose form be before knew from feeling,
he would carefully observe, that ne might
know them again: but hsvin too many OBJ
jects to learn at once, he forgot many Of
them; and Gas he said) at first learned to
know and again forget thousand things in
a day.
Having often forgotten which was the
cat and which the dog, he was ashamed to
ask; but catching the cat (Which he knew
by fseling) he was observed to look at her
steadfastIy, and then setting her down,
said, $50, puss! shall know you another
time.'"
The same writer, says the young man,
two months after he was couched, "discov-
cred at once" that "pictures represented
solid bodies; to that time he considered
them only as parti colored plains, or sur
faces diversified with variety of paints;
but even then he was no less surprised, ex-
pecting the pictures would feel like the
things they represented, and was amazed
when he found those parts, which by their
light and shadow appeared now round and
uneven, felt only fat like the rest; and ask
ed which was the lying sense, feeling or
seeing"