Amblyopia potatorum / by Ed. M. Curtis.

  • Curtis, Ed. M. (Edward M.), 1840-1874.
Date:
1872
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Amblyopia potatorum / by Ed. M. Curtis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    removed, there is a much greater prospect of recoveiy than in ordinary cases of amblyopia. In the treatment entire abstinence from alcoholic stimulants must be insisted upon; excesses of all kinds must be avoided; the habits should be perfectly regular in regard to diet, sleep, and exercise; and everything that will promote the general health should receive attention. But it is much easier to advise than to enforce such a regimen, as the majority of the patients who are afflicted with amblyopia potatorum are of that class who so dislike any constraint placed u2:)on their aj)petites, that they would often rather run the risk of blindness than change their long formed and unnatural habits. It has been usual to try the effect of alteratives in these cases, and they have often proved in some degree beneficial. Local blood-letting a|)|3ears sometimes to be of use, and the direct galvanic current has also seemed to do good. The success gained by Professor Hagel in cases of affections of the 0})tie nerve, by the hy^^odermic use of strychnia, induced me to try that remedy in several of the fol- lowing cases with quite beneficial results. Its effect, when ad- ministered in this manner, is evidently different from when given ])er oram, as shown by its exciting the ojDtic nerve previous to causing any irritation of the motor nerves. Case 1. Alcoholic amaurosis—lohite atrophy of both optic papilloc.—While on a visit at Sacramento in March, 1871, by request of Dr. Clu- ness, I examined Chas. H , aged thirty-eight years, ])ro2)rietor of a drinking saloon. lie had lived fast, been u}3 late of nights, drank hard but not to intoxication, and smoked moderately. Three years before, he noticed his sight was dim, and since then it has gradually failed; but for a long time he found he could see better when his saloon was brilliantly lighted for the night than during the day. He has never had any serious illness, nor been subject to headache. His eyes aj^peared natural, with the ex- ception that the were small. When j^laced in the dark they did not expand; but by concentrating a strong light uj)on them with a convex lens, they contracted to about one half their usual size. He had with his right eye a mere j^ercej^tion