History of medical practice in Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

254 History of Medical Practice in Illinoisophthalmia by removing a piece of iris,removal of the injured eye to be most important.as had been advocated, but feltIn 1864, the Special Committee on Ophthalmology consisted of Drs.Holmes, R. E. McVey of Waverly, J.S. Whitmire of Metamora, and F. B.Haller of Vandalia. As chairman of the committee, Dr. Holmes reportedthat, in spite of a request for the contribution of ophthalmic information,not a single response had been received. He stated that of the 2289 eyediseases seen by members of the committee and tabulated, 1128 were affectionsof the conjunctiva, inflammation of which was stated to be one of theprincipal causes of blindness. Trachoma was not named or clearly differentiated,although this disease had been known to exist since earliestantiquity. Copper sulphate was recommended by Dr. Holmes as of thegreatest benefit inthe treatment of "conjunctivitis," while mercury wasadvised for the treatment of iritis. He commented that "glaucoma is evidentlynot a common disease of the West. Only three cases of this affliction. . . have been observed in Chicago." This undoubtedly reflects the paucityof diagnostic aids for this condition rather than the rarity it would seemto imply. Another comment is of interest: "But few cases of anomalies ofthe refractive media have been under the care of your committee (48 hadbeen reported of the 2289 cases seen). This is explained by the fact thatpatients suffering from myopia and presbyopia apply to the opticians foradvice. Your committee has not been in the habit of making careful examinationof the eye affected with strabismus in reference to the existenceof myopia or hypermetropia, neither has he instituted suitable investigationsto determine whether asthenopia was dependent upon weakness ofthe recti muscles, or upon hypermetropia, formerly termed excessivepresbyopia. Not a single case of astigmatism has been detected, although noinvestigations were made by your committee till within two years." Thislast statement is of interest; while 95 per cent of refractive errors show anastigmatic component and Airy first corrected astigmatism with cylindricallenses in1827, the question was almost uniformly neglected by ophthalmologistsuntil publicized by Donders inHolmes's report.1862, just two years before Dr.Dr. J.S. Hildreth of Chicago appears not to have taken quite as vital apart in the State Society as did Dr. Holmes, although he read a paper atthe 1867 meeting on "The Cause and Treatment of Panniform CorneaeOccurring with Granular Ophthalmia." He advocated the use of atropine,stimulating applications of either ammonium bromide, tannin and glycerine,or a mixture of red precipitate, calomel, zinc sulphate and camphorin lard,"division of the ciliary ring," syndectomy and "appropriate constitutionalmeasures."By 1869, Dr. Holmes had as his fellow-members on the Special Commit-