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are composed principally of the short-wave elements. Now, if the violet rays produce such a marked condition when acting in numbers, it is only natural to suppose that the chronic, irritating diseases are the results of lesser quantities acting over a long period of time. The reflected rays from the water are surcharged with this obnoxious light.

After continued action the lens becomes affected, and the test proof of this is the appearance of a fluorescence apparent in the eyes of rabbits, treated with the ultra-violet rays by Schanz and Stockhausen. Repeated applications ultimately brought about cataracts; hence a plausible explanation of the origin of the opacities of glassblowers, and the numerous cases of cataract found in the natives of India exposed to the sun and blinding light.

Investigators, as Birch-Hirschfeld, Vogt, Hertel, etc., found that the retina was affected by the violet lights, and experimental degeneration of the ganglionic cells have been produced. Certainly the retina becomes sluggish when exposed to strong light, and various cases of amaurosis are directly traced to such a cause. Neurotic individuals, especially, suffer from strong light, and seem to feel a great amount of relief when the short waves are cut out. The various glasses devised for protection against these ultra-violet rays now come into consideration, the greater part of them depending upon the shade and the neutralization of complementary colors. But neutralization is not easily accomplished, for the various parts of the spectrum run into each other, so that the borders partake of the neighboring hue. Chief among the colored glasses used have been blue, smoke and yellow, and their use dates back quite a long time.

BLUE GLASS.

This color was formerly much used, because of the supposed soft light which it gave, and the great feeling of comfort. However, following various investigations, the advantages are slight and the disadvantages many. The greatest of these latter is the utter impossibility of obtaining a monochromatic glass in blue. This is demonstrated by placing several of the same shade upon one another and then passing judgment upon the color. Blue shades allow the entire spectrum to pass through, dimming only the yellow end, which contain the heat rays and waves of greater length, and even then the shade must be fairly dark. These deeper colors subtract a great percentage of the light, and thus lower the visual acuity. The chemical rays, which are the harmful ones, pass through with scarcely any hindrance. (Demonstration of spectra.)

SMOKE GLASS.

The scale shows five distinct shades, the palest being No. 1 and the deepest No. 5. This glass is supposed to be without any color, but, notwithstanding, reds and greens seem to slip in. Examination of the spectrum of light passed through this

variety of glass shows that all the colors are visible in slightly dimmed intensity; in fact, simply put, smoked glass merely lessens the candle power of the light. Patients wearing this glass are very comfortable because the brightness is subtracted, but two main objections are found: (1) The retina becomes very sensitive to light after prolonged use, and the discarding of the glasses is most difficult; (2) the gloomy and dark aspect which everything assumes, and, when a dark grade is used, the great diminution of visual acuity. However, for certain cases. this glass is advantageous, especially in the protection of eyes suffering from choroiditis and progressive myopia. (Demonstration of spectra.)

Very recently a wave has struck the ophthalmic world—not a new one, but a relapse, and a decided change of sentiment is perceived. In the beginning of this paper I mentioned that glass ground from amber was investigated in the seventeenth century, and since then at various periods it has been advocated. The idea is to cut out the blue end of the spectrum, allowing the soft yellow light rays to pass through, and checking the violet and the invisible rays of wave-lengths quite short. This has met with decided favor, and good results have been demonstrated. Mr. E. Treacher Collins related to me that when he, together with Galezowski, was called to Persia to perform an extraction upon the old Shah, he made use of amber glasses when crossing the desert, and did not suffer at all from the light, although the French surgeon was absolutely miserable. Using this to draw his conclusion, he fitted out an Arctic exploring expedition with this same variety, and none of the wearers suffered from snow-blindness.

The following extract from the report of Dr. Cook serves to bear out the statements made above. and, being the experience of a man of science, is surely of much value:1

"Though the heat of the sun was barely felt, its rays began to pierce the eye with painful effects. The bright light, being reflected from the spotless surface of the storm-driven snows, could not long be endured, even by the Eskimos, without some protection. The amber-colored goggles that we had made at Anootok from the glass of the photographic supplies, now proved a priceless discovery. They effectually removed one of the greatest torments of Arctic travel.

"The darkened or smoky glasses, blue glasses and ordinary sunward automobile goggle had all been tried with indifferent results. They failed, for one reason or another; mostly because of an insufficient range of vision or a faulty construction, making it impossible to proceed more than a few minutes without removing the accumulated condensation.

"This trouble was entirely eliminated in our goggles. The amber glass screened only the active rays which injure the eye, but did not interfere with the range of vision. Indeed, the eye, relieved of the

1 This paper was written many months before the investigation of Dr. Cook, and the worth of the extract must be considered accordingly.

snow glare, was better enabled to see distant objects than through field glasses. It is frequently most difficult to detect icy surface irregularities on cloudy days.

"The amber glass also dispels this trouble perfectly, enabling the eye to search carefully every nook and crevice through the vague incandescence which blinds the observer in hazy weather. The amber glass, therefore, reduces not the quantity of light, as do smoky glasses, but the quality. We were not only relieved of the pain and fatigue of snow glare, but the amber color gave a touch of cheer and warmth to our ever chilled horizon of blues. The usual snow goggles add an ugly gray blue to the frozen seas, which alone sends frosty waves over the nervous fibers."

Dr. Casey A. Wood, in his "Ophthalmic Therapeutics," says: "From several years' experience of them, I am in favor of amber-tinted lenses rationally employed, rather than of the usual smoke tint, blue- or gray-colored lenses in common use." Motais has been using these lenses for fifteen years, but waxes too enthusiastic, claiming about everything for them; but the writer, personally, after prescribing a great many pairs, has found a decided benefit in the majority of cases, especially where much work must be done by artificial light. Spectroscopic tests showed that a great many of the chemical rays were cut down without diminishing the intensity of light. The patient wearing ambers has an agreeable impression, with nearly normal power, at the same time being protected. However, in certain neurotic individuals the bright yellow has proven irritating, and in two cases, which I now especially recall, I was obliged to discard them. (Demonstration of spectra.)

A doctor of engineering-Stockhausen, of Dresden-had occasion in his work to look steadily for a half hour at a uviol light, and despite the fact that he wore glasses, was taken down with a serious ophthalmia electrica, together with the pain, lachrymation and swelling which accompanies this form of conjunctivitis. He went to Dr. Schanz for treatment, and together these two worked out a solution for the problem after much difficulty, and published the results in Graefe's Archives, August of last year. They started upon the theory of Widemark, Hertel and Birch-Hirschfeld, that the ultra-violet rays did the damage; so they tested the various sources of light to determine the various quantities found in each. They made beautiful photographs of the spectra obtained, and these are presented with the article. Then the absorption power of the various glasses was tested, but none found to be absolutely effective. The investigators came upon a glass which in thickness of .5 to 1 mm. cut out these vicious rays. This they called the euphos glass, but refuse to give the formula. The efficiency of the glass does not depend upon the pale olive-green color, but upon the component chemicals which are used in its manufacture. It is manufactured in three shades, the lightest of which merely subtracts 5 per cent. of the

quantitative light. After great difficulty and correspondence with Dr. Schanz, and a lapse of four or five months, I succeeded in obtaining samples of the glass through the kindness of L. M. Prince & Son, to which firm I wish to express thanks for their support and assistance in making the tests. Before prescribing the glass we made tests very similar to the spectra which we are showing this evening, and found, to our great satisfaction, that the violet side of the spectrum was entirely cut off. Great difficulty now arose in working the euphos slabs, because of the many air bubbles and waviness, but this has now been overcome, and even the higher minus lenses are made with no decrease in the shading at the center. Clinically I have used many pairs, and the patients wearing them are delighted. For out-door sports, especially boating and golfing, the effectiveness is very manifest in those patients who formerly suffered from marked conjunctival congestion following exposure to strong summer light. I have also prescribed euphos for reading lenses in those who complain of great weariness after close work, and find good results. The glass is not cheap, but the results are well worth the expense. I am sure the articles published by Schanz and Stockhausen will prove tremendously interesting to those who have carefully considered this phase of the subject.

In the May edition of the Klinische Monatsblätter appeared an article by Best, also a Dresden man, refuting every statement made by Schanz and Stockhausen regarding the dangers of the ultra-violet rays, and attributing all the trouble to the light part of the spectrum and not the chemical. He states that erythropsia is due merely to the light, and derides the idea of abolishing the violet end. But convincing evidence is lacking, and I think it is a case of diversity of opinion of practitioners in the same town. Best advises gray or blue glasses as the more efficient, but it appears that after a long trial they have been found wanting, and we are striving after clinical results, and need not enter a scientific discussion as to why they were obtained, and euphos glass certainly fills the space which has long been unoccupied, as the patients relieved of the symptoms are very pleased to vouch for.

Regarding the amethyst glass, referred to by Webster Fox at the American Medical Association, beyond being more becoming it does not seem to possess the decided advantages of euphos. A spectroscopic examination of a specimen I shall lay before you, and it is plainly evident that even more ultra-violet rays penetrate than in amber glass. In my hands it has proven ineffective, but it may be that I did not obtain a real sunburnt piece of glass. The indications given by Fox in his article are práctically those in which I use the euphos glass, which is not a cure-all, but when prescribed in suitable cases, where the ultra-violet chemical rays may be having their effect, a speedy relief can be anticipated.

DISCUSSION.

DR. LOUIS STRICKER: The subject which is brought up this evening is a very timely one. I have been a member of this Academy for seventeen years and this is the first time the subject has ever been brought up. In recent years the opticians have advertised so many different kinds of glass that the subject has grown almost to be a joke, and the amount of knowledge they do not possess on the subject of which they talk so glibly is stupendous. Some years ago I prepared a paper for an electrical journal on the effect of light on the eye, and then took up the subject of the protective value of eyeglasses,and was astonished how little was really known on this subject.

To begin with, the manufacture of optical glass is a secret process, and is guarded and handed down in families as an inheritance. France has about fifty such factories, Germany about twentyfive, and there is not a single institution in America which manufactures optical glass. It was tried once at Marietta, O.; the workmen were imported, but the attempt was a dismal failure. No two batches of glass made by the same firm have the same index of refraction, and a chemical examination and estimate on its refractive power is made in every case, so that you see the making of optical glass is not such a simple process.

Three kinds of glass have been commercially placed on the market and various reasons put forth for their special fitness. First came rock crystal, taken direct from the earth and for that reason supposed to be the thing; it was not only very expensive but had stratifications running through it, and was found to allow the ultra violet light to pass through it like water through a sponge. Then flint glass appeared; this contains large quantities of lead, for which reason it also is quite soft and this interfered in turning out elegant lenses which retain their polish, and it was for this reason that a hardened glass, which would appear more elegant, take a higher polish and a more accurate curvature was sought. To accomplish this it was found that practically all the lead had to be removed from the glass, in consequence of which the crown glass, in universal use to-day, is no protection whatever against the effect of the ultra-violet rays of which the electric light so commonly in use to-day contains a very large percentage.

The use of electricity to-day, not only for lighting but for motive power, has led to the establishment of many large generating stations; every now and then there occurs a short circuit, a "blow out," accompanied by a terrific flash of light. A man standing say a hundred feet away, happening to be looking in the direction of the flash, although he receives no visible burn, receives the full benefit of the chemical, ultra-violet rays, and within twenty-four hours all the epithelium peels off of the cornea, or the ganglionic cells of the retina are destroyed and blindness ensues. This seems to have been occurring with such relative frequency that the scientists of Europe began to take up the subject seriously. This subject seems to have been worked out at Jena, where they found that just as lead cuts off the X-ray, so here the lead cuts off the ultra-violet light. They began experimenting

by adding lead to the composition of the glass and then testing it until they reached a point where all the ultra-violet rays were cut off. Now this glass had a particularly yellow tinge. Others immediately seeing the commercial end of the question commenced making yellow glass by adding a certain. amount of iron to it; this, however, does not cut off the ultra-violet rays nor does any of the yellow glass to be obtained to-day. Any one wearing the yellow glasses to be bought at present will be just as much exposed to the dangers of the ultra-violet light as though he did not have them on, because they do not possess the lead, and therein lies the protection.

There is no doubt that yellow glass does soften down the light, making it possible to stand the strong and blinding light of the sun on snowfields or on the open lake, and is grateful in toning down and softening down the light, but the various colored glasses on the market do not do what is claimed for them. The market is flooded with yellow, green, amethyst and every other conceivable colored glass.

Every optician in this city has a different name for a glass which he is trying to foist on the public; one sells "Seewell," another "Feelswell," another "Lookswell," and none of them will "do well" unless we lend ourselves to their schemes, which as scientific men we ought not to do.

DR. W. E. SCHENCK: I think the Academy is indebted to Dr. Wyler for this beautiful demonstration. He has shown distinctly by means of the spectroscope that the Euphos lens does more than any other. I asked for the combination of blue and yellow for a purpose. I have been prescribing a blue lens for people that complained of irritation of the retina and I saw them get relief, although that did not give relief in the daylight, because the blue lens and yellow light is equivalent to green. That is the reason I asked for the double lens.

The Euphos lens is green. What that green is, whether it is the chemical factor, we don't know, but we do see that it cuts down this ultra-violet ray and the blue lens does not. You do not have to use the microscope to see that. For some six or seven months past I have been very enthusiastic in the use of the Euphos lens from the practical results of same clinically, and I wish to endorse everything that the doctor has said to-night-that it will be very satisfactory in every instance. I have refracted people who I otherwise would not have got, for it has been of benefit to these patients and myself.

DR. C. W. TANGEMAN: I would like to refer to one single point in connection with the essay of the evening. There is no question but that the majority of people are always going to wear white glasses. There are a few instances where the individual must wear colored glasses, because of occupation or a diseased condition. As the essayist said in presenting his paper to-night, when the blue glass was first introduced every one got blue glasses, now it is green, and those of you who were on the streets this summer saw a large number of amber-colored glasses worn. It is, indeed, the exception to be compelled to prescribe colored glasses. In the large majority of cases we would do harm to compel the patient to wear anything but a white glass.

The point that I wanted to call special attention to is the undisputed fact that when you absorb certain rays of sunlight with colored glasses you increase the amount of heat about the eye to such an extent that the wearer soon becomes very uncomfortable, and if he persists in wearing the glasses will soon harm the eye, whether the glass be blue, green or yellow. In many instances where colored glasses are worn it is only a fad, while only the exceptional case is benefited.

DR. J. H. SCHROEDER: Just one word regarding the chemical side of the subject. I believe that vision is essentially a chemical process, the result of the action of the rays of light upon the cells of the retina. It was believed for a time that certain very delicate chemicals should be kept in blue colored bottles to protect them from the light. We know now that these very delicate chemicals, for instance, those for photographic work, should be kept in amber-colored bottles. Now, if delicate chemicals will thus receive the protection from light, I do not see why the retina would not be protected by any kind of glass approaching the yellow, more or less.

DR. WYLER (closing): In reference to what Dr. Stricker had to say I want to remark that Euphos glass is not local glass, but an international article. It is not the trade mark of one local optician. It cannot be the amount of lead, because Schanz and Stockhausen come out openly and say that the color has nothing to do with the efficiency. It is the chemical part of the formula that prevents the ultra-violet rays from passing through.

As to the remarks that the very shortest waves are doing the same, it has been proven quite recently that rays up to 300 n.n. are absorbed by the cornea, that those which are over 300 and up to 330 in length are absorbed by the lens of the eye, so that the rays that do the damage to the eyes are correspondingly over 330 and under 400. These are absorbed by the Euphos, and consequently these very delicate rays between 330 and 400 which ordinarily are the troublesome ones are dispensed with.

The amber glass does protect against many ultra-violet rays, but it also detracts more intensely from the light than does the Euphos, and although the amber is very good the Euphos is still better. As far as the heat Dr. Tangeman spoke of, glass could not produce heat; it is merely that the heat waves pass through the glass and are perceptible to the patient when in great numbers. Of course, if smoked glass is used, they do not feel the heat as much, since the volume of all the ravs passing through the lenses is greatly reduced. The idea that more heat is generated by green and yellow glasses than by white seems faulty in the face of the physical teachings regarding this subject.

A NEW regulation by the Dayton, O., Board of Health provides for the fumigation of burial cars by the sanitary police. Undertakers, immediately after conducting the funeral of one who has died from contagious disease, will be required to report to the health department, that the officers may immediately care for the fumigation. Heretofore the custom has been for the undertaker to fumigate his own car by means of sulphur candles, after conducting such a funeral.

ADDRESS OF RETIRING PRESIDENT.*

O

BY RUFUS B. HALL, M.D.,

CINCINNATI.

NE year ago the Academy of Medicine honored me with an election to its Presidency. For this distinguished mark of your favor it is fitting that I should at this time, with many expression of obligations to you, acknowledge my appreciation of the high honor you have conferred upon me in choosing me to act as your presiding officer during the past year.

Conscious of the high obligation resting upon me, it has been my chief endeavor during the last year to labor continuously for the best interest of the Academy of Medicine. That you have co-operated with me in this endeavor is fully attested by the splendid work accomplished during this period. Your interest in the high purpose of the Academy of Medicine is again verified. I am more than satisfied with the efforts that you, as individual members and as a united profession, have made to advance the cause of scientific medicine and surgery.

As I have known and studied the history of the Academy of Medicine it has been one of great influence and power, which I have every reason to believe will still continue to develop in that direction in the future. It always has, and is to-day, standing for the best in the land in medicine and surgery and the various specialties. Not a few of its members are recognized as authority in all lands in which modern ideas of medicine and surgery prevail. Its works during the past year, through its individual members and as an organized body, have more than sustained its past history. newest and best products of the medical and surgical world have been presented at your meetings. Such, in brief, are some of the characteristics of the Academy of Medicine, which it is your pleasure and mine to be affiliated with. To me it is a great pleasure and a pride to be a member of it.

The

The plan of re-organization of the Academy of Medicine, which had been well matured by the committee previous to the present administration, was inaugurated at the commencement of the past year. While many of the members were very hopeful that it would be advantageous for the good of the profession and the Academy, not a few, including the speaker, felt somewhat nervous and in doubt as to the advisability of the change and the ultimate success of the new plan which you adopted. This plan, as you know, consisted in dividing the meetings into sections. How well this plan worked when it was put into execution, all of you are familiar, but I cannot permit this opportunity to escape me without reminding you of the great good that has come to all of us by this new

* Delivered to the Academy of Medicine of Cincinnati, January 10, 1910.

plan. It at once became very popular. The number attending at the different sessions was greatly increased, and, with this increase in members, came the enthusiasm and interest that had not existed in the Academy at any time within the knowledge of the speaker.

The committee on program have been besieged by the different members for a place on the program, who wished to read papers or present specimens or report cases. Frequently this could not be supplied, and, at all times, the different contributors were required to speak for a place many weeks in advance in order to secure it. This speaks volumes for the good work that the Academy has in hand.

On February 22, the by-law was adopted making a radical change in the plan of the election. We have just passed through the first election under this change. The new law gives every member a vote whether he is present or not. This is a very democratic law and may redound to the good of the Academy in many particulars. It has many

good features and it is to be hoped that it will prove as satisfactory as the change in the general plan referred to.

The character of the work accomplished during the past year has been of the highest type, such as to reflect credit upon its individual members and to the Academy as well. The amount of work accomplished has been marvelous. It is only necessary to remind you of the detailed statement, which the Secretary just read, of the number of papers and case reports, as well as the specimens presented and the discussions following, to verify this

statement.

If the Academy had done no more during the past year than this work we would feel that we had accomplished something, but this is only a small part of the good work that has been accomplished by you during the past administration. The Academy displayed great wisdom in bringing distinguished members of our profession, specialists in their several departments, to address the Academy during the past year. The first of these was Dr. D. W. Greene, of Dayton, Ohio, April 5, "Smith Method of Cataract Extraction." Second, Dr. F. M. Pottenger, of California, who, on May 31, gave us that classical and interesting paper on "The Early Diagnosis of Tuberculosis." Third, Dr. W. Chas. White, of Pittsburg, who, on October 18, gave us that interesting paper on "Municipal Care and Control of Tuberculosis." Fourth, we had that interesting and scholarly lecture, on November 8, by Dr. Joel E. Goldthwaite, of Boston, on "Our Present Understanding of the Rheumatoid Diseases."

This plan of bringing distinguished men in the profession to read papers at the Academy is to be greatly commended. It gives us the best on the subject. The plan of having a social session following each of these meetings has been very advantageous to the Academy. This plan should be con

tinued. It is an agency of great good for the future of the Academy.

While the increase in membership has been considerable, the number is not as it should have been, because every man in the regular profession in this county should be a member of the Academy of Medicine. We can do him good, and he can do us good, and he ought to be in regular fellowship with us. It was hoped that the plan outlined early in the year of establishing auxiliary societies in the suburbs would accomplish this end. It is to be regretted that this plan could not have been successfully carried out. If we could take, as it were, the Academy to every door in the form of a branch society it would be the means of adding many to the membership who remain outside. There are a number of local 'societies that are prosperous and do excellent work. There ought to be some plan evolved by which they could become the nucleus in their neighborhood of the auxiliaries, a kind of a merger as it were. They need not lose their identity in doing this, and it would redound greatly to the advantage of the Academy as well as to the individual.

If the plan suggested for the establishment of the auxiliary societies in the various parts of the county could be carried out papers of unusual merit read at these different societies should have the preference for a place on the program at the This could be carried out very easily Academy.

by having in each auxiliary society a committee whose duty it should be to recommend the paper so desired for a place on the program at the Academy. The paper, of course, should be read

at the Academy before publication. If this plan was successfully carried out it would put in training at once for society work almost all of the young men in the county. This would be of great benefit to the Academy.

In

The Academy must recognize the fact that in the future, as in the past, they must take an active part in the local government in all matters which pertain to the public health and the welfare of the city. fact, the speaker believes that the organization will wield more power each year in the future if that power is directed along coonservative lines as heretofore. We should not shift the responsibility, but meet it honestly and bravely, because we know that we are right.

This city, in the past few months, has witnessed one of the most glaring "quack" medicine advertisements and unmitigated frauds which has ever been perpetrated upon the unsuspecting public. That we, as an organization, should take a more active part and a firmer stand against this class of frauds there can be little doubt. It has been said that there were two difficulties in suppressing these men. First, that the law was defective, inasmuch as the proprietor could employ regular licensed physicians to do the prescribing, and thus evade

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