Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1885-08-27
GIVING SIGHT TO THE BLIND.
An Old Woman Whose Lifelong Blind.
ness Wa. Remedied-
Medical Inn-aal

An Old Woman Whose Lifelong Blind
ness Wa. Remedied-
Medical Journal
At the recent meeting in New London,
Conn. OF the American Ophthalm logical
soci.ty. the proceedings of whic ar, rs-
portsi I'm TIE MEDICAL News. DR.. l. We =
s,er FIX read cl meal psper on a case of
con genital cataracts succe 'sfully removed
in a patient o. years OF age. Onittinz the
purely technical portions. DR.. Fox's paper
was as follow:
On Feb l. 1884. a negress presented her
self at the eve clinic Of the Germ ant rwu
hospital suffering with cat,ract< The
lenses were Opaque. with we'll marked de-
posits Of calcareous concrstions, situite1 in
to interior or visible portions Of the lenses
Jpn examination. good projection Of
light was obtained. The history elicitsi was
that since birth the vision had not ch anged,
simply being able to distinguish day from
night, or the light Of lamp or the shadow
Of dark object when brought directly in
front of the patients face. Feeling sured
of the sensibility Of tie retina, an operation
for the cataract in one eye was suggested,
and was performed The Ions was success
fully rem loved in its capsule with Critch-
ett's spoon There was small loss OF v;tre-
Gus. which was fluid. The eye was clio Cd
Immediately, and the wound healsi with
out reaction; the eye being bathed daily
with mild astringsnt lotion, but the lii
was not disturbed
At the end Of eight days the bandages
were removed, when 1t was found that the
wound was closed and . key hole iriiotomy
existed which was perfect in outline and
showed q clear media. The patient was
astonished; she could sec objects several feet
distant, but was quite at q loss to under
stand the visual phenomena- She was
quite nervous from the effect Of the shock,
and started violently and closed her eye. as
If from fear. She was unable to name any
object placed before her. but lilly dis
tinguished it when her hand was placed
upon it A few moments afterwarj she
readily distinguished . watch which was
shown her. This ives distinguished, not by
its form. but by its ticking. At this time
woods Of different colors were placed before
her. and certain one given 10 be matched.
which was done without confusion. proving
accurate sensibility Of the retino t. tbs most
delicate tints, although not a name wa>
known to the patient. After several day the
object and wool test was made again. When
looking at a distance she tried TO grasp tho
objects, AMI a flock Of sparrows wers up
posed to be teacups Owing to her first i'm
preston Of di taaces she was for quite a
time afraid 10 walk with her eyes open, the
flor appearing at a distance. A red and
black color PRODUCED pain in the eyebal
while green and white were soothing Alter
the bandage> were removed sire was allowed
the free ION Of O moderately lighted room
t. become accustomed to the obts,ts about
her, a. we'll a to learn to measure di-tance-;
she repeatedly re. u-e to walk. alt ioug the
nurse assured her that no danger would be-
fall her in the effort
The patient wa soon able TO associate the
name Of the object AMI at the enl OF some
weeks, in the meantime using her
eye constantly. she was able t. men,
ton all the objects in the wari Of the
hospital, but at times would make mistakes
quite as ludicrous as the birds and the tea
cups In January Of this year the right eye
wa, o;erated on; no reaction followed, and
she is now able to SEQ perfectly with both