Vol. XXV. No. 1.] 
POPULAR SCIEIirCE NEWS. 
15 
Alcoholic Cirkhosis in a Child.— The Jnvr- 
>ial of the American Medical Association states that 
Dr. H. >I. Biggs recently presented before the 
Xevv York Pathological Society a specimen of ad- 
vanced cirrhosis of the liver, obtained by him at 
the autopsy of a boy aged only 13 years, whose 
body also presented all the other usual lesions of 
chronic alcoholism. It was reported to Dr. Biggs 
lliat when the deceased was a baby of 2 years 
old, he had a bronchitis for which whiskey was 
|)reseribed. As the child seemed to take a liking 
to the latter, his parents permitted him to gratify 
liis taste for it, without let or hindrance, and 
during recent years they had given him monej- to 
Ipeud for alcoholic drink. His capacity for dis- 
BSing of alcohol became so increased that he 
rould take from six to eight drinks of whiskey 
ach day, of about 1 1-2 ounces each. On the 
ay of his death he bought a larger quantity 
lian usual and took it all at one drink. He was 
lound semi-comatose, some hours later, and never 
Allied. At the post-mortem examination, the 
ver and other organs presented nearly the same 
pathological appearances that mark alcoholic sat- 
ration in the adult. 
Successful Transfusion. — The Lancet men- 
tions a case of cancer of the breast, which had 
een removed ten days before. 'VMiilst the wound 
ras being dressed the patient was suddenl}''at- 
acked by syncope. She became pallid and com- 
pletely collapsed — a condition not to be accounted 
br by the fact that she was the subject of mitral 
Bsease. After the subcutaneous injections of 
brandy and ether, and the perf oi-mance of artificial 
Respiration, the surgeon decided to have recourse 
transfusion. This was effected by means of 
kveling's apparatus, the blood being taken from 
Ws right arm (he is left-handed), and injected 
Jirectly into the patient's veins. It was calculated 
(lat more than a pint of blood was transfused, the 
|»peration being terminated by the ojjerator becom- 
Bg faint. The result was most satisfactory, for, 
^t the end of ten minutes, the patient had com- 
pletely recovered, and in a few days was able to 
ive the hospital. The cause of the collapse was 
liought to be internal hemorrhage, as on the fol- 
Bwing day the motions were observed to be 
blackened. There is no doubt that the patient 
pwes her life to the surgeon's prompt and coura- 
|eou8 act, which he had to perform with only the 
Hsistance of a nurse. 
CADACHE AND ACHIXG OF THE EYES. 
EVF, strain should be the first thought suggested 
by any complaint of headache, for, in our day and 
pivilization. it is by far the most common cause of 
lat symptom. It enters as a factor into the 
ausatiou of nearlj- all headaches not due to 
pyrexia, toxaemia, or diseases of the brain or its 
Dembranes. The simple existence of headache, 
derefore, should suggest eye strain, but frequently 
careful inquiry as to the manner and time of 
ccurrence of the attack and the location of the 
everest pain will be almost conclusive as to the 
jJrigin of the trouble. 
Often it comes on whenever the eyes are used, 
od is absent when tlie eyes have had a proper 
eason of rest. The occasions of most severe 
equirement in the direction of eye work are the 
Soing of anything requiring accurate near vision, 
ixing both the accommodation and the conver- 
'gence, or travelling, shopping, attendance at pub- 
lic gatlierings, which entail more use of the eyes 
than tlie patient is at the time conscious of, and 
often under unfavorable conditions. 
In hyperopia In young jieople, the accommoda- 
tion is in ex(jessive use so long as the eyes are 
open and the attention fixed on any visible object, 
and hyperopia is the most common cause of con- 
stant headache. The writer was formerly subject 
to a constant headache whenever confined to the 
house, and regarded it as caused by breathing- 
vitiated air. until it was quite cured by the cor- 
rection of his hyperopic astigmatism. Many per- 
sons have the same idea as to the causation of the 
headaches thej- always experience when attending 
the theatre or other place of public amusement, 
and which are really due to eye strain.. Others 
ascribe these headaches, and those experienced in 
travelling and shopping, to exhaustion. This is 
nearer the truth, only they commonly have in 
mind a condition of genersfl exhaustion, w hereas 
it is largely one of local exhaustion of the spe- 
cial nervous apparatus concerned in the act of 
seeing. 
Congestion, irritability, or inflammation of the 
eyes and their appendages, should always suggest 
the suspicion of eye strain. A single attack or 
manifestation of this kind has no special signifi- 
cance, but repeated attacks of inflammation, or 
prolonged congestion, or irritability are exceed- 
ingly suggestive of a continuing cause, and the 
most connnon of these is the one now under dis- 
cussion. Xo case of chronic inflammation of the 
margins of the lids, or of recurring conjunctivitis, 
or repeated sties, has justice done to it until it has 
been carefully investigated for eye strain. Persons 
at the period when they begin to feel the effects 
of the loss of accommodation in presbyopia or 
absolute hyperopia suffer from repeated attacks of 
conjunctivitis, which they commonly ascribe to 
" taking cold in the eye," but which are cut short 
liy use of the appropriate lenses, and which, if un- 
checked, would tend to establish a chronic 
catarrhal condition, which is a cliief discomfort in 
the lives of many people. 
We should like, also, to call attention to car 
sickness in connection with eye strain. AVe have 
had eight or nine cases of this kind, all of which 
were relieved by glasses. One case was that of a 
gentleman who, every journey, had car sickness. 
While he had the mydriatic in his eyes he went to 
Washington, and suft'ered no inconvenience what- 
ever. Subsecjuently, after lie had glasses, he made 
a trip to St. Paul without any of the former 
trouble. Recently we have had two cases — one 
that of a girl who could not ride a short distance 
in the street cars without vomiting. We found a 
decided degree of hyperopic astigmatism. With 
the mydriatic in her eyes she rode home without 
her usual trouble. 
A strange thing with reference to eye strain is 
that it often exists to an exceptional degree with- 
out showing any symptoms in the eye. The 
patient will often say that the eyes are perfectly 
good and have never caused any irritation. The 
reflexes seem to have settled in some other place. 
This is an interesting pathological and physiolog- 
ical question. — Medical Times and Register. 
A WORKIXG MODEL OF THE EYE. 
A small camera which I have recently con- 
structed as a model of the e}-e, has proven of so 
much use in illustrating to students the elementary 
facts regarding the refraction of the eye, the vari- 
ous forms of ametropia, and the methods of deter- 
mining the degree of the latter, that I have thought 
a description of it might be of value. In the per- 
fection of the geometrical and mathematical ex- 
planation of the refraction of the eye contained in 
the modern text-books, the student seems in danger 
of losing sight of the fact that we have, in the 
camera obscura, a working model of the eye 
which can teach the facts of refraction better than 
any other method can hope to do. With the facts 
plainly before him, the student naturallj' seeks 
their explanation. Many working models of the 
eye have been made, but they are all so costly as 
to be far beyond the reach of the majority of stir- 
dents; in that which I describe I have utilized the 
lenses of the test-case, thereby reducing the cost 
of the instrument to a mere trifle. It consists of 
a cylinder of card-board, three inches long and 
about two inches in diameter, over which slide 
two other cylinders,- each one and a half inch long. 
One end of each of the latter cylinders is closed 
by a stout wooden diaphragm, of which one has a 
hole one and an eighth inch, the other a hole of 
three-fourths of an inch in diameter, in its center. 
In front of these holes are hooks for holding 
lenses. The interior of the instrument is well 
blackened. AVe have thus a cylindrical box, whose 
length may be varied from three Inches to nearly 
six inches. If a -f- 19 D. or -|- 10 D. lens be placed 
before one of the openings in the box, the ground- 
glass disk usually found in the test-case before the 
other, and the board cylinders be shifted until a 
clear image of distant objects is formed on the 
ground-glass, we have a model of the eye in a con- 
dition of eminetropia. Either end of the model 
may be used as the front, giving two sizes of the 
opening which represents the pupil. If we slightly 
engthen the box, myopia with its blurred image 
is shown. Placing a concave glass before the lens 
clears the image ; so does bringing the model near 
the object. A definite amount of myopia may be 
produced in the model by substituting a stronger 
lens for that used in representing emmetropia. 
Hypenuetropia can likewise be shown in tw o ways. 
Astigmatism is, of course, represented b}' placing 
a spherical and a cylindrical lens at one of the 
openings. In practicing the shadow-test, the metal 
disk of the test-case is substituted for the ground- 
glass at the back of the model. In the direct 
method a disk of card-board containing fine print, 
a series of lines, or a drawing of the fundus may 
be so placed. It is, perhaps, in illustrating the 
shadow-test that the model is most useful, the 
action of light in the pupil being shown with 
great distinctness. A single example will serve to 
show the application of this test. Placing in the 
front of the model a -\- 10 D. lens, we shift the 
board cylinders until we have a clear image of dis- 
tant objects on the ground-glass (emmetropia). 
Substituting for the + 10 D. lens a -|- 9 D. with 
-f- 2 D. cylinder axis 180°, ^^•e have mixed astig- 
matism, with the meridian of greatest refraction 
at ninety degrees. AV^e replace the ground-glass 
disk by the metal disk, and reflect light into the 
model with tli(! pkme mirror. At a short distance 
from the model this light appears as a perpendic- 
ular band, moving rapidly and easily with the 
mirror from side to side, slowly and with difticulty 
in the direction of its length. At the distance of 
one metre (the point of reversal for the myopic 
meridian) the band of light can still be moved 
from side to side, but not in the direction of its 
length. Beyond that distance the light appears 
to move against the mirror when moved up and 
down, but remains with the mirror for all distances 
when moved from side to side. The advantage to 
the beginner iu using the model rather than the 
eye itself, lies in its better illumination, and the 
consequent distinctness of the movements, and in 
the fact that the student is able to produce any 
form of ametropia at will. — R. J . Phillips, M. D., 
in Medical Record. 
