hop-pickers' ophthalmia. 275 



my readers will have derived some small insight into the wonderful 

 molecular mechanism which gives rise to the beautiful colours and 

 crosses that are revealed by the microscope .with the aid of 

 polarised light. 



'ho}?^p\c\\cvB' ©pbtbalmia/ 



Abstract of a Paper by Percy T. Adams, M.R.C.S., D.P.H.,. 

 Resident Med. Officer Kent County Ophthalmic Hospital. 



FOR the past six years, during the latter part of August and 

 throughout the month of September, cases of an acute 

 form of ophthalmia have occurred in Kent among the hop 

 operatives. 



A peculiarity of the disease lies in the apparent immunity of 

 men ; women and children are more intimately associated with 

 the actual handling of the hop-cones in plucking them from the 

 bine. Men engaged in the hop industry are, however, subject to 

 the disorder. The disease is associated with no particular planta- 

 tion, growth of hops, encampment, or village. It is mostly 

 prevalent at the time of the maturity of the catkins only, and does 

 not appear to be infectious. All, whether " home-pickers " or 

 strangers, appear to suffer equally from the disorder, which appears 

 to partake of a partly mechanical origin. 



In two cases which came under the writer's notice, the patients 

 positively affirmed that the advent of their symptoms followed 

 shortly after an accidental rubbing of their eyes with hop-soiled 

 hands. I made observations of the operatives whilst actually 

 engaged in hop-picking, and noticed that the women, whilst bend- 

 ing over the bines, frequently applied their hands to their foreheads 

 to brush aside the hair from the face. A woman with a much- 

 inflamed eye who came to the hospital maintained that it came on 

 shortly after rubbing " some of the stuff from the hops " into her 

 eyes from her hands. 



Patients complain of an acute smarting pain, which becomes 



* From British Medical Journal, May 13, 1893. Our thanks are due to 

 the Editor for kindly lending the electros. 



