New-York tribune., 1886-07-12
LIVING EYES TRANSPLANTED
SUCCESS OF EXPERIMENTS ON RABBITS.
poss,n,IIrIEs FOR THE FUTURE-CAN 1T DE DONE
WITH HUMAN BRINGsf


WITH HUMAN BEINGsf
The transplantation of healthy, vital organ
q, tax. the place OF diseased In the human body has
bcen tue much dicussion IN the medical pro-
fe.sior and given rise TO much good-nature0 rlucuo.
II has always looked visionary by practca
anatomiss but the experiments which have been anu
are now being carried in this city by Dr. Charles IL
MAY OF the NewYork Poiyclinc, bring up the question
again and demonstrate the feasibility OF the idea ine
subiect under consideration is the eye Any one assa
isned with OF sight that nature has gwen MN
need walk longer on the barren Island Oh uesp"''
II any one has blind eye. or no eye 1"
ALL or feels as blackeye OF blue one would DO moro
in kespng with his style OF beauty. few hours IN '"e
repalr shop will all things straight ana he VIII ooue
out nted up his taste. The small sqaht eJe' "H
is said to indicate dsceful heart can DO thrown "w"
IL the posssssor desires and the cmp1y socAe' eu'
with the large lusrous orb OF innocencs ana "u'h'
which ply sognonists point to as sure sign o' Po"
spasm Dr. May ha. proven that the eyes OF ahihsis
can be exchanged without great difficulty ana oe''o
that the same can easily done IN the human oens
under the proper conditions
u. MAY began his experiments in tIanspantiuS eyes
in January last HIS attention called 10 tno s"'
jec by the efforts OF Drs. Chbrch Trrier anu h'""'
OF PRS sad Dr. Bradford, OF Boston, who r"P''sNe
In The latter part OF 1850 '"a - .
cases attempts made to transplant '
of a dog or RABBIT Into the socket oi mum :" ~ ~
Fonr OF these cases we're unsuccessful tue oos e'e
-, ,, ,h. yorst OF Al. while the nnal report in tue
arm case has not bsen made public Theso failures
were due to lack experience an1 As the
been trod before II was only nstuFai ~ cAIe'' ~
mistakes would made and all otthe surgeons iee'
menaei that before aGy further attempts were ih'
a hn,uan subject the most favorable conditions """
,,,o ~ treatment should dohuely established oJ
prscuc al expert nents with animals Rabbits we're So
lecte by Dr. Nay TOO animi ais best suited 10 use "
the experiments. TweniyfOur OF them were oPe'"'o"
and c.rcta aai minute records we're kept OF every
Tna nod nf
OF The cases tue samo with the exception VI 10"
trivial changes Two of ABOUT equal size were
alwsys used, and selections were made al nneS
40 that after the operation one OF the eyes
would be blue and the other black. Ether was
avays gwen The rabbits took TO II kindly ana 'huu.
ccacionaly IL would he necessary TO practise ar icai
respiration keep up the Administration OF the e.neI
mo- evil after effect they had become UNCONSCIOUS
the eyelds ds,ended by ssprins spseuno; n
-, To keep IN pOsiuoD ana
fhr ,he and rectus superior ncsc.e were ou
into with blunt Iais OF ard ,ho mn.ce wa.
severed The smaller rec muscles we're also cut VII.
snord was run through the conuncva near the
centre to give the relation of the eyeball ater
Inr OPTIC nerve exposed and II was severed WIN
pair curved SCISSORS about one-eshlh OF an ,nea
,neuts and the eye taken out and wrapped up III
cotton saturated with horic acid 49,. .,o,o.,oa tho
Ore eve OF rabbit having been enuciealeH' lhs
work OF transpantng WAS in order ins coNia nov De
done un All hemorrhsges had been stopped ihen al m
eSceedInrly dercate needle curved al nearly Tign'
through the exposed Optic heI'o Va "n'
OF tho rabbits ana piece OF the tareaa ,." 80. -;
Thr needle then beng attached 10 the excsed nerve o
one pI p 'me ne,ns Of me nerve were united
made mold the nerve In position lhe pieces ol va W co.
which had attached 10 the rec nusclcs anu co %
tnnrtya were then picked up and The conlnDctva sac
drawn the eyeoaL Eight sutches d % ~, cau
inctiva after had been nited together anu
The strange eye was then IN eve o Ss
SIX su,ures were passed through ,taT tno tSs eve
bali had been washed with an antlsepuc sou..o I
o. the horde of mercury, compress ol p'a', w ~
a1.nnel bandage. over all was placed chamos mtsA
sdaptei to the mead 1he unopcraei eye was not coy
cred. The bsndage was left on week Deioae rem"
anu me parts unusually fire. from suppuf4ton -,
twenty were left unoandsged and soughmg Of the
couea quickly followed. Ia seYea oshei easus .n w.,
bandace IN dlsplscng them so As To prevent
The proper heslins OF tne eSes t 40 % ami ,nIer;errG
win the Cf tho jaw. Ihis set up an hi va ma
hon which caused the eyes 10 slough. la il'
rrIAining SIX cases where the bandages WIZ @
held IN position by .1se,v ,ne soeecssful an
the tran .pauted eyes have perfectly nata'a al
1t was considered ue1 M s| IN every eve rs
must kept rom atmosphere contact sS m N ~
where II posed PARTICLES OF matter 10 iAs IL t
air od the surface OF Tue eye ana as ,'ee ws @
no tears or movement the ds 10 get rd OF the tHe
up lrritat Oh and INFLAMMATION "ich % -.
muscles was TO nave taken place as early as t
day after he operation tsou~n t usuHP ~ =. op
seven The Optc perfectly united IN eve I!
case and the flow o, blood Was regularly eSlao Suen u
apo1t ton DAYS Aer muscles mad Joined there wa
an asociated OF the eyes, and an object move
in front OF the unOperated eye was FOLLOWED Dy con
cor.ei movement OF both OF them There wa
only one thing lacking; there was no sikhl i
me ,rsuspanled eye Ihe in every IN
sIanee mad generated and nervous emsnis passe
betveen the eyebal and the brain. Whether this i'
feet can be overcome doubtful, but IL among u
possblitics of the surgery OF the future. VIII IN
time when the DlinI can pe maao 10 sec W "
them new pair OF eyes Every effort Is TO be malo
QeteTu lne thls question ,,,,.. ,
IL hard ~ possible that any person Will DO Nh.us
give up good eye TO be raDspiauted In tho sOehes
Some other fellow VINO has an nnsishty one ana sne
will have to taken from animals raOblt : eye
much small u human eye and cannot De uscn ~
rms purpose Dr. May, however, believes that raOOit
be increased In SIZE by system OF breeuhg
10 now trying the experiment IN pfivate iso9Ia.o
nj. nnnse where All IA IS been done ho Inlhh
that they will lie large enough TO use III me hunan su
iecr Tie optic and muscular attachue Al
y. siruar the color the aud the SIZE is Tue ON
trounIe. Whsn rghts!zod has been ooialueo u
vork of experimenation Will he transferred 10 u
human beinc, and is every promise of Success.