I’ve been reading a ghost story anthology these past few days, and in the story “The Richpins” by E. G. Swain I found the following passage: “Richpin had until recently had an atrocious squint, which an operation in London had completely cured. This operation, of which, of course, [the main character] knew nothing, he had described, in his own way, to anyone who would listen […]”
The story was written in 1912. What kind of operation could this have been and what kind of technology would have been available for it?
Seems to me like the operation wasn’t on the eye itself but on muscles around it. The operation was needed to fix a squint. Seems more likely that it was spasming muscles that control the eyelid/cheeks, no?
It’s my understanding that one of the first uses of cocaine was as a topical antisthetic that permitted eye operations. Lidocaine and novocaine have similar properties (and, thus, a similar root in the word).
Hmmm…can’t seem to find a site relating to the practice in the early 20th century, but I suspect that this may have been part of the procedure.
I squinted my way through school so I could read the board. Of course, I was nearsighted. Only in 12th grade did I go to the optometrist and get fitted with glasses.
By 1912 they had already discovered that cocaine could be used to both paraluze and anaesthatize the eye. They knew about disinfection. It wasn’t as clean or efficient as today, but the essentials were all in place.
What amazes me is, as noted above, people had been operating on the eye for millenia. It makes me cringe to think of it.
I stumbled across a report in an 18th century copy of the Journal of the Royal Society about a doctor who used a needle to open the “stuck” iris of a woman who had been blind since birth, and gave her sight*. It’s pretty astonishing, considering bothg the “ick” factor of the operation and its near-miraculous result. I understand that there was a movie a few years ago about a similar case in the modern world, but I’ve never seen it.
*I imagine that she must not have been totally blind, because you need some sort of input to the sight centers of your brain in order for them to develop and be ready to process visual input. But it can’t have been functional sight.
I can’t imagine how a pre-anesthesia eye surgeon could have induced the patient to hold still long enough to complete the surgery. I guess the patient’s head could have been clamped into place and the lids propped open, to prevent gross movement. But the patient’s eyes themselves could still move, and I’m not sure I could hold perfectly still while a surgeon leaned over with a needle … closer … and closer … and … AUUGGHH!