Milford chronicle., 1889-12-27
ABOUT RLlnpHEss.
A Washington Doctor Gives Some Startling
Facts to a Medical Society.

A Washington Doctor Gives Some Startling
Facts to Medical Society.
Alta recent meeting Of the Medical society
Of this city paper was read on the above
subject which has so much interest for the
public at large that The Star obtained per-
mission to publish some extracts, which it
trusts may have the effect Of drawing the
attention Of those having the care Of infants
to the great dangers which are likely to fol-
low neglect Of what appears at first 70 be
only a simple ''cold in the eye.n The i'm
portance Of the matter to the community
will be apparent from the rather startling
statements contained in the paper
shall not burden your attention nor tax
your memory with long tables of statistics
which have been prepared at much pains and
with great accuracy by a number of men in
different parts Of the world but will simply
state the fact which has been brought out by
these investigations, that not less than 80 per
cent. Of all the blindness in Europe and this
country is caused by the purulent inhamma-
tion Of the eyes of the new born infants
Bringing the matter more nearly home to
ourselves, there are now, according to the
last census, at least $1,000 totally blind per-
sons in the United States; and OF these Il, 600
at the very least have been blind from birth,
and have been a constant care and expense
for the whole of their lives. The minimum
cost Of sustenance Of a single person in our
best and most economically managed institu-
tiOns for the blind is about $132 per annum
This makes for the mere keep Of these
blind people something like 1000 600 an |
nually. But if these 5000 people had not |
been blind they would have been producers |
instead Of consumers only, and their net con-
tribution to the general fund can be taken as
at least 81 a day on the average Adding /
this amount to the cost of keeping them and |
we have the total loss to the wealth Of the /
United States, each year, of 81, 100000 And /
this enormous loss to the commonwealth,
gentlemen, is due to the ravages II a disease
as preventable and more curah1e than small
pox find upon examining Tie records of a
single institution in this city the central dis
pensary) that seriods defeQEs in vision from
neglected ophthalnlia of i6fants forms about
rs per cent. of al, the eyg cases treated there.
and in more than half fof this number the
blindness was fatal.
In a single month th re were brought there
three infants with bQ eyes totally destroyed
h5H the disease and yeu could have seer the
look Of aRgassh-en2 reproach in the faces of
these mothers-two of them hardly more than
children Reconsideration told that their
babies would never see again, the prevention
and proper treatment of babies sore eyes
would not have then seemed to you a slight
or trivial affair. Nobody told me it was
dangerous they said. "They said it was
only a cold in the eyes, and that if l put
breast milk in them they would come all
right" When the new born infant is under
the care of competent physician, who ex-
lmines into the condition Of the eyes each
lay and notes the very first appearance of
-hedisease, and institutes prompt and vigor
1us measures for its relief, the danger is much ,
ess. But there are large number Of new
BORN babies who are never seen by physi- {
ian at all, and these are among a class of ,
leople where the conditions for the develop {
ncnt of the disease are mos favorable 1t is (
highly important that those persons be in
ONE way Informed of the danger. Various I
Methods Of accomplishing this have been sug- q
.ested. In England the ophthalmological So [
iety Of the United Kingdom took the matter 4
IA hand, and in 1884 its committee composed v
f the ablest men among its members, made b
report of a series Of resolutions, some modi- n
cations Of which dpem adapted to the ne n
essities Of the case in this country: II
Cd That ophthalmia Of new born infants 81
eing the cause Of a vast amount of blindness, L
lainly because of the ignorance of the public 81
egarding its dangerous character and the II
onsequent neglect to apply for timely med Sc
al aid, and it is desirable to instruct those
J charge Of new born children by a card in
distance as follows:
INSTRUCTIONS REGARDING NEW BORN INFANTS "
If child's eyelids become red and swollen or 81
egin TO run matter few days after BIRTH it is to =
, taken without days delay to a doctor The -
sease is very dangerous, and if not at once "
eated may destroy the sight Of both eyes. u
In our own city l think the health Office "a
'uld do great good by aiding in the distribu- al
ON of cards something like the above. They Sd
'uld be given to the physicians Of the poor
II general distribUtion in their respective ie
stricts They could also be left for csistri- tn
Stion at the various dispensaries and at III
hatever other public institutions those for W
hose benefit they are intended arc to be III
und The expense of printing such cards NJ
ould be trihing, and if there is no public
nd from which the cost could be paid, | sh
ink that there is no doubt but that it would III
) forthcoming from some private charity. re
ais, 1t seems to me, in view Of the great i'm ca
'rtapce of the subject, even from the politi- sh
economical point of view, and laying aside th
considerations Of sentiniens and humanity. OIL
the best we can or should Washington L'
ar. in