An introductory lecture, delivered at the North London Ophthalmic Institution, May 8th, 1843 / by William White Cooper.

  • Cooper, William White, 1816-1886.
Date:
1843
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An introductory lecture, delivered at the North London Ophthalmic Institution, May 8th, 1843 / by William White Cooper. 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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    the cornea, or, as the author expresses it, “ for the spottes or blemysh in the eyes called Macule.” He says; “Take of the suhstaunce of apples roasted under cooles, 5 iij; of woman’s milk, § i; the yolkes of two egges; stampe these foresayde thynges together, and afterwarde applye them upon the eye in y® fourme of a plaister.” As a colly rium, he recommends a stew of raisins in the broth of a lean chicken; and also a wash, in which the broth of partridges, capons, and ox-gall, are in- gredients. To shew the barbarous ignorance of the oculists, I may quote the practice followed by one Woolhouse, a man of note, resident in Paris, who thus treated ophthalmia. He was in the habit of scarifying the inflamed eye and eyelids with the shaiq) beards of barley and rye made into a brush, and forcibly rubbed on the conjunctiva; he then, to prevent adhesion between the wounded membranes, used to insert a barleycorn between the eye and the lid! It makes one shudder to think of the sufferings the patients must have under- gone, and the dreadful inflammation such violence must have excited in the already inflamed and sensitive organ. It is a relief to turn from such descriptions to the more enlightened and rational views contained in the writings of Wiseman,* contemporary of Ambrose Parfe, and sergeant-surgeon to Charles the Second. This illustrious man evidently possessed an acute mind, great original talent, and strong good sense. He has treated of ^seases of the eye in a masterly manner, and his observations upon strumous ophthalmia redound greatly to his credit; for he traced the disease to its origin, and has recorded excellent rules for the con- stitutional treatment necessary in such cases, laying stress upon the importance of attention to diet, the state of the skin, and of the secretions generally. Meadjj- who flourished in the early part of the • Wiseman; Several Chirurgical Treatises. 1676. + Mead’s Medical Works. 1762.
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