Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1898-03-11
SEES, YET SIGHTLESS.
A STRANGE PARADOX THAT is Now
ROTHERING THE DOCTORS.

u
Has Had Hor Eyesight Restored Bat
Must Learn to Know the Objects She
Lacks at As If She Wore Baby.
Oculists are greatly Interested al
present in the strange case Of a twenty
EFe-yca:-old girl, who has just been
enuoWed with vision after being blind
from birth, and is forced to learn by
sight objects thoroughly familiar
through her sense of touch.
Marie Duplessis was born with what
IS known as congenital double cata-
r2ct OF the eyes, which deprI we'd her OF
sGht. She could disttngr ish light
Hem darkness, but objects were en-
tlleiy invisible. In cases OF blindness
the other senses are frequently much
more acute than those Of ordinary per-
sons. and with the girl Aar power of
distinguishing objects by touch was re-
markab'e, and she learned to know
NEST OF the articles that entered into
her daily life. estimate their weight,
and call them by name.
or late years operations fur cataract
in the eyes have become numerous and
comparatively simple, VISION being
made possible by removing the veil
with has descended betw cen the iris
and the rejecting nerves in the back
Of the organ. The cataracts were taken
from Miss Duplessis's eyes about three
weeks ago, and in a few hours floods
OF light and color, distances great and
small. the varying shapes of a myriad
objects were cast upon the retinas that
mad never known anything but dark
ness and shadows. The effect was ter
ritic and extraordinary
For fully an hour after the operation
was performed Miss Duplessis could
see nothing; then outlines gradually
became visible. For week objects
were more or less indistinct, although
the sharpness of form Increased each
day. The very act Of seeing was ex-
ceedingly painful and occasioned Sc
we're headaches. For the first few days
Miss Duplessis could only find relief
by keeping her eyes closed most of the
time. opening them at rare intervals
for Il few moments. Even then she de-
scribed the sensation experienced as Of
the objects she beheld striking the eyes
severe blow.
Colors caused her acute suffering.
and of these red was the most irritat-
Ing and offensive. The forms of things
were not such complete surprise as
their color, for she had been accustom-
ed to comprehend the bulk and shape
by her sense Of touch, while the HUN
II
familiar were entirely new and beyond
her comprehension.
1t seems impossible for the girl to OBJ
tain any idea OF distance by using her
vision. One OF the doctors held his
hand close to her ;ace and told her to
take hold of it. Sd" -cncLcI out with
her h""':s .nu seizsi the empty air sew
eral feet away. Then bottle was
placed on table at the other end of
the room, and when asked to reach 1t
Miss Duplessis extended her hands as
II to grasp it within arms reach.
Another curious series OF expert
ments was to induce her to name a
number of objects placed before her.
with all of which. she was familiar
through her sense of touch She made
errors in the names of almost every
one, when depending solely upon her
slght FOR Information, installing a cat
Tor a dog, pencil -or key, a feather
buster for a bunch % chrysanthemums.
Then canary was placed upon her
niger, and when questioned she was
totally ignorant as to what it was. The
bird was placed III its cage and the
girl identified it at once by feeling tho
bars of its little prison. The girl was
then blindfolded and given in turn
each OF the articles that had previously
been placed before her They were
all designated by name without an ar
rOr.
Her mode of walking Is greatly
changed when she uses her ewes.
While blind her steps were like those
of an ordinary person, depending. as
they did, entirely Upon her sense of
touch. She could ascend or descend
flights Of steps with little difficulty.
Yet she says that when she looks at
the floor 1t appears to have a steep
slope. and she steps out as if going up
stairs or ascending a hill.
Doctors say that it will take several
months for the muscles of the girls
eyes to be trained even beyond the
rudlmentary stage and that never hay-
ing had sight she must observe and
learn to know the things about her
without the aid of touch, as If she were
, baby.
The Young Wife's Social Duties.
To simply live alone, with no proyis.
ion for the qualification of the social
instincts. is apt to prove too severe
strain upon the reserve forces of even
the happiest marriage There is some
excuse to be made for the man who
seeks society outside OF the home
wherein no thought is given to social
pleasure. while the wife Is apt to grow
petty and personal, and so less attrac-
tive as she shuts herself away from
intercourse with others. This dron.
ping out Is very easy, but even when