The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1944-05-20


Dr. Ciendening will answer
questions of general interest
only, and then only through
his column.
be born second son Of the Duke of
Devonshire, and a Hollywood pro-
Queer, and a millionaire art coll
lector were considered of more
Importance than-"Dr. Karl Kol-
Ter, SO, ophthalmologist, in Man.
haitian. lie was the first doctor 10
use cocaine as a local anaesthetic.
Karl Roller died on the ami
versary Of his great discovery. 1t
was in 1884, sixty years ago, when
he was a young man Of 26, that
there was published in the Vienna
Weekly Medical Journal the article
ION the action of cocaine as an
anaesthetic in the eye"
Experiments With Cocaine
Young Roller was working there
AS an inferno in the General Hos
pital Of Vienna. Among the at
tending physicians whom he
served was DR.. 'Sigmund Freud,
afterwards world famous as the
psychologist who introduced the
procedure Of psycho-analysis to
the world. DR.. Freud always inter-
ested in nerves had been curious
about the action of cocaine, the
alkaloid which Nieman had iso-
lated from the coca plant in 1859.
He found it paralyzed nerve end
ings, rendering them dead to pain.
DR.. Freud knew that young kol-
Ter was interested in the eye, was
working towards specializing in
that field. He suggested to him
that cocaine might be used locally
in the conjunctival sac of the eye
to deaden pain for operations. II
have started wrote Roller, in his
original paper, with the premise
that substance which paralyZes
the terminal sensory nerves of the
mucous membrane Of the tongue
would not act very differently on
those Of the cornea and conjunc-
tiva. If few drops of an aqueous
solution of muriate of cocaine are
dropped in the cornea Of a guinea
pig, q rabbit or a"dog, after a Pc
Rod Of 30 seconds the animals
eye assumes a peculiar expression
of rigidity. II one now touches the
cornea of the animal with the head
of a pin, being careful not to come
in contact with the eyelashes, no
reflex closure Of the lid occurs, as
would otherwise happen. l then
experimental on myself and found
that after installation Of two per
cent solution into my conjunctival
sac, the cornea could be touched
with the head of a pin with no
pain, indeed with no sensation
whatever resulting"
Introduced Local Anaesthesis
The discovery, of course, was Of
momentous help in many ways to
eye sufferers. The pain and irrita-
ton of cinder or other foreign
body in the eye could be quoted so
that the patient could keep quiet
long enough for the doctor to re-
move it. Eye operations could be
performed without the dangers at
tendant on a general anaesthetic.
1t was, in fact, the second step
in the conquest of pain. The first
step had been made in 1912 when
Crawford W. Long, q country
practitioner invGeorgia, had ad-
ministered ether by inhalation in
order to perform a surgical opera
ton, which he proved could be done
without the patient feeling any
pain. Rollers demonstration was
the second great step because il
introduced local anaesthesia. The
principle Of local anaesthesia is
why should the whole body be
put to sleep and rendered insensi-
tive with all the consequences Of
intoxication, possible shock and
nausea and vomiting when only
one part Of the body is to be oper.
ated on and that part alone can be
rendered free from pain ?"
Later steps were the use Of
spinal anaesthesia and now tht
patient can be rendered anaesthe.
tic by substances taken by mouth
or vein.
Better local anaesthetics have
been introduced since Roller,
time-novocaine for skin infiltra
tion and holocaine and butyn fol
the eye. But to DR.. Roller goe,
the credit for the first discovery
Of this wonderful advance. / d,
not know the exact date when h,
settled in New York To practic,
his speciality of the eye, but /
must have been over forty year
ap0