THE CAUSES AND THE PREVENTION OF BLINDNESS. BY DR. ERNST FUCHS, Professor of Ophthalmology in the University of Liege. VIRIBUS UNITIS. The Essay which gained the Prize of £80 offered by the Society for TRANSLATED BY DR. R. E. DUDGEON, Author of "The Human Eye: its Optical Construction." WITH A FEW NOTES BY DR. M. ROTH. London: BAILLIÈRE, TINDALL & COX, 20, KING WILLIAM ST., STRAND, W.C. REPORT OF THE HONORARY SECRETARY OF The Society for the Prevention of Blindness, and the Improvement of the Physique of the Blind. 48, WIMPOLE STREET, LONDON, W. June, 1885. As the Hon. Secretary (pro. tem.) of this Society, I consider it my duty to mention that during the five years and a-half of its existence over 100,000 papers, viz., leaflets, prospectus, reports and pamphlets have been gratuitously distributed, and that this Prize Essay (which is the property of the Society) "On the Causes and the Prevention of Blindness," by Dr. Fuchs, Professor at Liege in Belgium, was published this year by J. F. Bergmann, in Wiesbaden in German, the language in which the MS. was written. The German edition consists of 1,000 copies, and is sold at a nominal price to cover the publisher's expenses. A French translation, by Dr. Fieuzal, is in the press. An Italian translation will be published as soon as the funds of the Society will permit. At the third International Congress of Hygiene at Turin, in 1880, I called the attention of the Congress to the subject of the prevention of blindness, and it was resolved that it should again be brought forward at the fourth Congress in Geneva, in 1882. Meanwhile the Society offered a price of £80 for the best essay on the Causes and Prevention of Blindness, written in English, French, German, or Italian. It is due to the generosity of a gentleman (whom I am not permitted to name) appreciating the importance of the aim the Society is pursuing that the prize could be offered, as he contributed five-eighths of the money. The Society has also to thank the same gentleman for his aid in the publication of the English translation by a contribution of almost half of its expense. The programme of the essay, and the report of the secretary of the International jury, which was read at the fifth Congress at the Hague, in August, 1884, are here reprinted. As the Society wishes that this book may be read and understood by the general reader, I have added a diagram of the eye and a glossary of all technical terms, as well as a list of the Society's publications which are distributed amongst the various classes of the population. The Society's thanks are due to Dr. Dudgeon, who has for a long time paid much attention to eye-diseases, for kindly undertaking the translation of this essay and its careful revision for the press. The Society hopes that their exertions on behalf of the Prevention of Blindness will contribute to the diminution of the still largely prevailing ignorance of the public who are not generally aware that two thirds of the 30,000 blind in England, and of the 320,000 in Europe, owe their misfortune merely to ignorance and neglect. It is desirable that more attention should be paid to the diminution of the immense amount of misery represented by these numbers as well as to the great expense to the country the existence of so many blind persons entails, an expense which is not represented by the mere cost of maintenance, but also by the loss of the productive labour of these blind persons. DR. ROTH. Hon. Secretary and Treasurer, pro tem. Programme. Offer of a Prize on the Prevention of Blindness. The Fifth International Congress for Hygiene which meets in 1884 in the Hague (Holland) will award the prize of £80 offered by the London Society for the Prevention of Blindness to the author of the best unpublished essay in English, French, Italian or German, On the Causes of Blindness and the best Practical Means for Preventing it. In addition to the chief prize the International Society for the amelioration of the lot of the blind, proposes to award a second prize of £40 (or two prizes of £20), as also a medal and diploma, to the author of any essay or essays considered as specially meritorious by the prize jury. These latter prizes will be given on the occasion of the celebration in Paris of the centenary anniversary of the foundation of the first asylum for the blind by HAÜY. The Fourth International Congress for Hygiene which met in Geneva in September, 1882, accepted, on the proposal of the prize givers, the following programme for the prize award : 1. Causes of Blindness.—a. Influence of heredity, diseases of parents, consanguineous marriages, &c. b. Eye diseases of infancy, various inflammations. c. School period, progressive myopia, &c. d. General diseases, diatheses, various fevers, poisoning, &c. e. Influence of occupations, accidents and injuries, sympathetic ophthalmia. f. Social and climatic influences; infectious eye diseases; unwholesome, over-crowded, ill-lighted dwelling places, &c. g. Defective or total absence of treatment of eye affections. 2. The most appropriate preventive measures are to be stated for each of these groups. a. Legislative measures. b. Hygienic and professional measures. c. Pædagogic measures. d. Medical and philanthropic measures. The Geneva Congress chose an international prize jury consisting of the following gentlemen: |