The Portland daily press., 1886-08-02
EYES TRANsPLANTED.
Success of Experiments on Rabbits
Possibilities for the Future-Can 1t Be
Done With Human Beings.
N. Y. Tribune.

N. Y. Tribune
The transplantation of healthy, vital or.
gan to take the place of one diseased in the
human body has been tie source of much
discussion in the medical profession and Civ.
en- rise to much good-natured ridicule. II
mas always been looked upon as visionary by
| practlcai anatomists, but the experiments
which have been and are now being carried
on in this city by Dr. Charles Fl. H. May, OF
the New-York Polytechnic, bring up the ques-
ton again and demonstrate the feasibility OF
the idea. The subject under consideration
is the eye. Any one dissatisfied with the or
| gan of sight which nature has given him
| need walk no longer on the barren island of
despair. If any one has blind eye or no
| eye at all, or feels as if a black eye or blue
one would be more in keeping with his style
| of beauty, few hours in the repair shop
| will set all things straight, and he will come
| out fitted up to his taste. The small squint
| eye, which is said to indicate deceitful
heart, can be thrown away, if the possessor
SO desires, and the empty socket filled, with
the large lustrous orb of innocence and truth
which physiognomists point to as a sure sign
the eyes of animals can be exchanged with
out great difficulty, and believes that the
same can be as easily done in the human be-
ing, under the proper conditions.
! DR.. May began his experiments in trans
| planting eyes in January last His atten-
ton was called to the subject by the efforts
| of Drs. Chibret, Tirrier and Rohmer of Pa
| ris, and Dr.. Bradford. of Boston, who re-
| ported in the latter part of 1885 that in five
cases attempts were made to transplant the
| eye of dog or rabbit into the socket of a
| human being Four of these cases were un-
| successful, the dogs eye turning out the
worst of all, while the final report in the
| fifth case has not been made public. These
| failures were due to lack of experience, and
| as the field had never been trod before it was
| only natural to expect that mistakes would
be r.ade, and all of the surgeons recommend
ed that before any further attempts were
made on human subject the most favora-
BILE conditions and mode of treatment should
be definitely established by practical expert
ments with animals. Rabbits were selected
by DR.. May as the animals best suited for
the experiments. Twenty-forc of them
were operated upon and careful and minute
records were kept OF every change and con-
dition. The method of operating in each of
the cases was the same, with the exception
of few trivial changes. Two rabbits of
about equal size were always used, and Sc
lections were made at times so that after the
operation one of the eyes would be blue and
and the othe.- black. Ether was always Civ
en-. The rabbits took to it kindly, and though
occasionally it would be necessary to prac-
tice artificial respiration and keep up the ad-
ministration of the ether for three hours,
they speedily recovered and there was no
evil after effect. After they had become un-
conscious the eyelids were distended by a
Efxratf rrn,-n
used to keep the eye in position, and then
the conjunctiya and rectus superior muscle
were cut into by blunt pair of scissors.
They were held together with piece OF
thread, and the muscle was severed. The
smaller recti muscles were also cut with the
scissors and located in position by threads.
A knotted thread was run through the con-
junctiya near the centre to give the relation
of the eyeball after removal. The eye being
drawn out of the socket as far as possible,
the optic nerve was exposed and it was sew
cred with pair of curved scissors about one
eighth of an inch from its entrance to the
brain. This severed all the attachments, and
the eye was taken out and wrapped up in
cotton saturated with boric acid.
One eye of each rabbit having been enucle-
ated, the work of tranSplanting was in or
der. This could not be done until all hem
orrhages had been stopped. Then an ex-
ceedingly delicate needle, curved at nearly
right angle, was run through the exposed OPP
tic nerve of one of the rabbits and piece of
the thread drawn after it. The needle then
being attached to the eXcised nerve of one of
the enucleated eyes, the thread was tight
ened and the points OF the nerve were united
A suture was made to hold the nerves in po-
sition. The pieces Of thread which had been
attached to the recti muscles and conjuncti-
va, were then picked up and the conJuncti-
val sac was drawn over the eyeball. Eight
stitches of black silk were used to unite the
recti muscles and the conjunctiva after the
edges had been fitted together, and the
strange eye was then an occupant of
strange place. To keep the transplanted eve
fixed, two silk sutures were passed through
the eyelids, which were gently drawn to-
gether. After the eyeball had been washed
with an antiseptic solution of bichloride of
mercury. a compress Of borated cotton was
applied to the eye, which was covered with
a flannel bandage. Over all was placed
cham0is mask adapted to the head. The un-
operated eye was not covered. The bandage
was left on week before removal and the
parts were unusually free from suppuratlon
As a matter of experimentation seven
cases out of the twenty were left unban-
daged, and sloughing of the comea quickly
followed. In seven other cases the animals,
who kept up constant endeav0r to tear off
the bandage, succeeded in displacing them,
so as to prevent the proper healing of the
eyes. In four of the cases the bandages had
been applied too tightly and interfered with
the motion of the jaw This set mp an in
flammation which caused the eyes to slough.
In the remaining six cases where the ban
dages were held in position by the chamols
covering, the operation was entirely success
full, and the transplanted eyes have per-
fectly natural appearance. 1t was consid-
cred established that the cOmea must be kept
from atmospheric contact, as in every case
where it was exposed particles OF matter
floating in the air lodged on the surface of
the eye, and as there were no tears or move
ment of the lids to get rid of them they set
up an irritation and Inflammation which re-
suited in the speedy degeneration of the CO.
mea. The union of the muscles was OBJ
served to have taken place as early as the
third day after the operation, though usually
it took seven. The optic nerve was perfect
ly united in every case, and the flow of blood
was regularly established in about ten days.
After the muscles had joined there was an
associated movement of the eyes, and an OBJ
ject moved in front of the unoperated eye
was followed by concerted movement of
both of them There was only one thing
lacking: there was no sight in the trans
planted eye. The retina in every instance
had degenerated, aud no nervous elements
passed between the eyeball and the brain.
Whether this defect can be overcome is
doubtful, but it is among the possibilities. of
the surgery of the future. Will the time
come when the blind can be made to see by
giving them new pair of eyes? Every eff
fort is to be made to determine this question.
1t is hardly possible that any person will
be willing to give up good eye to be trans
who has an unsightly one, and they will
have to be taken from animals. A rabbits
eye is much smaller than a human eye and
cannot be used for this purpose. DR.. May,
however, believes that rabbits eyes can be
increased in size by system of breeding
and is now trying the experiment in a pri-
vate laboratory in his house. where all his
work has been done. He thinks that they
will be large enough to use in the human
subject The optic nerve and muscular at
tachments are all similar, the color is the
same, and the size is the only trouble.
When the right sized eye has been obtained
ferred to the human being and there is every
promise of success.