The Cleveland Medical Gazette, Vol. 1, No. 5, March 1886Various
History
The Cleveland Medical Gazette, Vol. 1, No. 5, March 1886
Various
Medicine -- Periodicals; Surgery -- Periodicals
without any perceptible effect. After ten days I began to give her
tonics instead, and although she took the elixir cinchona with dilute
hydrochloric acid, tincture of nux vomica, quinine, iron oxid of zinc,
and finally stimulants, there was no improvement and the patient said
she remained in total darkness. This tonic course was continued up to
the twenty-ninth, and had been followed out thoroughly for two full
weeks without effect.
During the nearly four weeks treatment the patient said that when the
eyes were shut she could discern the position of the lighted lamp, but
when the eyes were open she could not see the lamp or the slightest
object, or even tell daylight from darkness. At various intervals during
this time her pastor visited her and offered her his most heartfelt
sympathy. Her friends were becoming exceedingly anxious least the sight
would never return, although I could assure them that there was not the
least danger of permanent blindness. I became satisfied at this time
that medication was not going to dispel this peculiar attack of hysteria
and that it would need something besides medicine to produce such an
impression upon her mind that she could overcome it, so I told her that
I was going to do something the next day that would surely make her see
before night, and that she should be of good cheer for her sight would
return very soon. The next morning I went down about nine o’clock armed
with my ophthalmoscope, my case of trial glasses and my Hearteloup’s
artificial leech. The patient seemed to be quite confident that she
would soon see, and was very hopeful as to the result of what was to be
done. I looked into the eyes with my ophthalmoscope, and then applied
the cylinder of the artificial leech to the temples without scarifying
and used considerable traction, first on one side and then on the other,
having previously told her not to open the eyes until I told her to do
so. In about half an hour I told her to open the eyes gradually so as
not to let the light in too suddenly and then tell me what she could
see. The instant she opened them she said I can see the light and the
position of the window. I then told her to close the eyes again and I
reapplied the cylinder and commenced the suction as before. By this time
the temples had become red and so sensitive that she now complained of
some pain when the cylinder was reapplied. After twenty minutes she was
told to open the eyes again and she said she could see objects about the
room distinctly. She was then tried with large letters but she said she
could not see to read them, but could see the black objects. Told her
glasses would help her and placed a No. 72 convex spherical glass before
the eyes when she could see Jaeger No. 20, then told her she needed
other glasses and replaced the No. 72. She now saw to read No. 16. I
continued taking off and putting on this same No. 72, with good effect
and whenever she came to a standstill in reading reapplied the cylinder
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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