Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-27
OCULIST OF POOR .
OF A ROYAL STRAIN
Duke Karl Theodor's Peculiar Life
Story-other Interesting News
Notes from Germany

BERLIN, Dec. ga very remark
able man has passed away by the
death of his royal highness Duke Karl
Theodor in Bavaria, the head of the
ducal line of the house Of Whttels-
bach, brother of the ill-fated Empress
Elizabeth of Austria, father of the
future queens of Bavaria and of the
Belgians, and an oculist of uncontest-
ed eminence, who had performed no
fewer than 5000 operations for cata-
ract. He was already 80 years of age
when he left the army, in which he
Was major of artillery and devoted
himself exclusively to the study of
medicine.
A sad family event is reported in
Bavaria to have turned his attention
to medicine. In the spring of 1867 his
first wife, a daughter of King John of
Saxony, was seized with diphtheria,
which ended fatally, and, it is said,
in presence of her sufferings, the duke
formed the resolution to devote his life
to the study of the healing art. He
entered himself as medical student at
Munich university; attended the usual
dissecting course and walked the hos
pitals. The most prominent professors
at Munich such as Ziemosen, the sur
geon Nussbaum, the oculist Roth
mund, ranked the duke among their
most devoted assistants and students.
At ROthmunds ophthalmia infrmary
the duke completed the studies for his
intended profession as oculist, while
with Horner at Zurich and with Alt
at Vienna he perfected himself in op-
erative ophthalmia He was frequent
ly found in the ward of the famous
Vienna surgeon, Billroth, and the doc
uments of this section recording sue
cessful cataract operations frequently
bear the emigentic comment "DuX
fecit'-this modestly intimating that
the duke had performed the operation.
oculist of the Poor
As soon as he had taken his degree
he settled down at his seat, Schloss
Tegernsee, in the Bavarian Alps, and
practiceG daily in the local hospital
where he treated all the eye cases, re-
gardless OF the patients position in
life, free of charge. Later he opened a
private eye hospital in Nymphenburg
street at Munich, to which patients
Hooked in thousands from all parts of
the kingdom. Though he held the hon
orary rank of general in the Bavarian
army he always wore civilian attire
and was wont to say that he felt most
comfortable in his operating apron.
The dukes Kindness and affability
with the peasantry may be judged by
the fact that they addressed him with
the familiar 'du," which he returned
He was rarely seen at any court fes-
tival and signed himself in official doc
uments "Oculist for the Poor" An
old peasant woman used to describe
how the duchess acted as assistant to
her husband in his surgery, held the
patients heads and whispered words
of hope and encoura cement. An aged
Tyrolese peasant, whom the duke res
cued from hereditary blindness, said
to him, Nov l don't know whether [
should thank God most or thee"
Wrote Theoretical Works
Apart from his surgical skill his
royal highness acquired considerable
fame through his theoretical work. es-
pecially with two books, "Contribu-
tions to the Anatomy and Pathology of
the Nitreous Body" and contributions
to a Pathological Anatomy of the I've
in Kidney Diseases" In his leisure
moments the duke occupied himself
with music and the study of foreign
languages. He was allied with the
German imperial family by tics of
close friendship. on one occasion ne
successfully treated the Emperor Will
liam for eye trouble, and the crown
prince and his brothers were frequent
ly his guests for chamois hunting at
Bad Kreuth.
The duke who was 20 years of age,
was twice married, the first time to u
sister of the late King John of Sax.
ony and the second time to the Infanta
Josefa Of Portugal. The ducal line OF
the Whittelsbach branched off from
| the main stem in the second ha'f OF
the seventeenth century.
Kaiser and the Play
AS is well known, the kaiser is a
warm believer in the educative indu-
ence of the play with a purpose, the
political tract play, as it might be
called. An article just published has
some interesting detail and comment
on the intensity of the emperor's per
sonal effort to make the stage a fore
ing machine for turning out good Ger
mans. He specalizes in what is called,
seriously by himself and more or less
satirically by others, the Hohenzol.ern
piece-all, of course, made into one