The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1879-08-19
LIVE nIGu," SAID THE DOCTOR.
A KnIrein MY EJe-By the Night Editor
Of The New York ESun."

and DINNER, until at length l FELT con.
strained to ask the night manager Of that
institution to be more liberal In using the
chemical sheets which supply color in
m%anifolding. He replied that the mani.
folders invariably made morecopies Of the
kilograms than were required by tho men,
bers Of the Associated Press and that he
sent to the newspapers Z me that we're
not as plain as though written with a
coarse pen and black ink on white paper.
1 did not dream that the defect was in my
falling vision. After some months a fine,
fantastic cobweb tracery began to float be-
fore my right eye, and on shutting my left
eye, l was unable to read with the right.
Then a friend said that a film vas growing
over my right eye. Instead, however, Of
aflm covering the eye, It was the death Of
the crystalline lens within the eye. Then
it became evident that blindness was
creeping upon me.
The remedies that friends offered were
varied and numerous. The first tested was
that which suggests itself TO everybody
who becomes conscious OF impaired eye.
sight. l went to al optician. Strong cat
araCt glasses served their purpose for
a while. Then the eye required something
Of greater magnifying power, and | ran.
sacked the opticians stores, and even EN-.
ployed an expert to make a combination
Of lenses; but all these articles failed with
the lapse OF time. Next tried the turf
mems panacea for diseases in horses eyes,
namely, the bathing Of tho eye in a solu.
ton Of common rock-Salt and water. Salt
water, especially that Of the sea, is good
for weak eyes, but useless in q case OF cat.
aract. That demands the knife.
The serpentine spider.webs which float.
ed in front Of my right eye were slowly
and imperceptibly followed by the fading
OF all objects that were not distinctly dc.
fined, and the power Of vision in the left
was soou so far reduced that reading be-
came impossible. Gas.lights became faint,
orange-colored disks Of haze; the setting
sun looked like a sun viewed through a
glass covered with a thin coat OF lamp.
black, and the moon was no longer visible.
Then Mr.. Dana sat down at my desk one
day, saying:
"This has gone on long enough. You
must go to an oculist atonce, or your ewes
may be irretrievably ruined by these ex-
perimenLs. You must go to my o%culist,
right off. I will see him and make ar.
engagements for youto-morrow, and NEAR
tine l will relieve you OF such duties as
cannot be readily performed by an
tamanuensis, whom The Sun shall employ
10 assist in your work"
On presenting myself before the Doctor,
my first concern was about the dreaded
dark room in which patients are tradi.
tionally kept a fortnight OF longer after
the common!operation for cataract.
"My practice" said the Doctor, in
answer to my question, docs not Confne
the patient at all. Twill not operate when
the atmosphereo or anything in thepatient's
system has a tendency TO inflammation is
all that need be feared"
l requested the Doctor to give me
chloroform.
ISL" said he, with emphasis, l never
took a risk, and l will not begin to take
risks at my advanced age. Besides" he
continued, exhibiting a knife whose in
initesimal blade was barely visible
undera powerful nagnifying glass, "there
is no pain"
This astonishing assertion tailed with
that Of Wilkie Collins oculist in "Pool
Miss Finch" Therein Herr Crosse as
sures Lucilla Finch that the operation fol
cataract is almost painless. l could moi
believe it.
But, pain or no pain, there was no es
cape for me. The Doctor would not lister
to the word chloroform; the right eye was
totally blind and the cataract in the lef
was almost total an operation was inevi
table. 1t cannot last long, | thought, as
lbraced myself in the chair, aud the knit
descended. Anew skillful whirls, and thu
dead lens was cut, the blade was draw
out, aud the water OF the eye trickled down
my cheek-an inverted mElstrom which
swept the eyes inhabitants 10 death II
space beyond their sky. The pain haC
rot been that Of a mosquito ating. Their
had been the smallest possible pInetioE
OF the horny outer covering Of tho eye
known in the books as the cornea; ant
once under the thin, transparent layer
Of the cornea, the knife touched only thu
dead crystalline lens. SO far as sensibilit!
was concerned, 1t might IS we'll have cut
corn on the foot.
"Now," said the Doctor, as he CAREFUL,
restored the gem OF knife 10 his safe, Y
new aqueous humor, like that which fol
o lowed the steel out OF your eye, will form
. in four hours and begin to dissolve tn
9 9 dead lens that l have cut; and l wish yol
to take your ease and live high, so tina
9 your system may absorbthe lens as fast q
9 the aqueous hnmor dissolyes il. VIVA
' l mean by living high the Doctor ex
0 planned. "is that you shall take plenty @
nourishing food, such, for example, q
beeisteaks and oatmeal and cream" The
q he told the story of the Highlander who
having been tainted with DR.. Johnson
4 ~spiteinl definition OF oatmeal-"food 70
], men in Scotland and for horses in Ems
land"-retorted with, "And what fin
horses they have in England and wha
fine men in Scotland" Briefly, the Doc
. tor babe me eat food fit for the huma
stomach, instead Of the paying.stone sou.
and brickbats that are served on Me-
York tables.
1.-THE disolving Of a dead lens In the oyt
said the Doctor, stealthily punching
. bundle Of needles into my spinal column
is a slow, tedious process; but it is sal
and sure. 1t is not practiced by the pr
Ia sion, because few patients can brook il
tSsd,ror ard lew oculists can withstan
tbe temptation TO gtsiiy their patients b
taking the risk OF ~ 'a0t.nE : len sos ~
single sitting. II an ocu..s% W. sAtF n
fully taken a lens from one eye y
gle operation, he will hardly tOuC.. u
other, the peril from the sympathy Of til
eyes Is so great. Besides, In the extra,
ton ottho lens, an operation in which
the Doctor continued, with tinge OF bi
terness in his tone, thirty per cent OF q
. the eyes cut arc lost, vision is not resto
ed in perfection; for the iris is often de
troyed, and so much OF the cornea is C
to let out the deadlensthat the five tran