Optometry Lib V " ra17 er·dcal File . NEWSLETTER OF THE OPTOMETRIC HISTORICAL SOCIETY (7000 Chippewa Street, Saint Louis, Missouri, U. s. A. Volume 5 October 1974 Landmarks of science: ftPTOM£TRY liBRARY OCT 10 1974 IHDJAHA llllllrll'IJY 63119) IUIUWJ Number 4 This is the title of a microprint reproduction of "the collected scientific writings of more than 300 outstanding scientists as well as the significant work of more than 3,000 additional scientists," available from Readex Microprint Corporation, 101 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10003, at the mere cost of $12,500.00. This makes it possible for major libraries to give virtually direct access to students of the history of science to centuries of published scientific documents. A brief scanning of authors listed includes many known students of optics and vision, names like Bacon, Dalton, Descartes, Franklin, Fresnel, Gauss, Helmholtz, Hooke, Mach, Mariotte, Maxwell, Newton, Ostwald, Sherrington, Weber, Wundt, and Young, to name just a few. Leonardo da Vinci: After ten years of meticulous labor, the world-famous Grottaferrata Monks have completed the historic restoration of Leonardo da Vinci's CODEX ATLANTICUS. Because the CODEX itself has been withdrawn from public access, this new definitive facsimile will be the only source available for study and research. The edition is limited to 990 numbered sets for the entire world. A set consists of 12 volumes of 360 pages each. The prepublication price per set as of May 1, 1973, was $5,520.00. The publisher is C.E. Giunti-Barbera, Via Vincenzo Gioberti 34, 50121, Firenze, Italy. Vatican library microfilmed: Manuscripta is the title of the serially produced microfilm of the rare and out-of-print books in the Vatican Library, copies of which may Louis The be obtained by subscription to the Pius XII Memorial Library, Saint University, 3655 West Pine Boulevard, Saint Louis, Missouri 63108. microfilming was started several years ago and is not yet complete. Periodical lists of grouped topics in broad categories of subject areas are sent to subscribing libraries. For the student of history these lists can serve as an index from which the microfilm reel number for the desired book can be obtained. -34- International milestones: .• , ... ;,;; i;' 1\q!'d~~ust 25, 1970, Mrs. Maria Dablemont submitted application for '· :(,l'~ll.t!h\berl:thip of the American Optometric Association Archives, Museum, and Library in the International Council on Archives, UNESCO, 2, Place Fontenoy, Paris - 7e, France. In her letter of application she pointed out· that "The Archives of Optometry were established in 1902, four years after the foundation of the American Optometric Association. Subsequently, a supporting library was developed. Both Archives and Library were created for the exclusive use of optometrists. After 1952, our services were opened to the public. In 1964 a museum was established." On October 1, 1971, she was notified that the application was presented to the Executive Committee in session in Verona on September 20-22, 1971, and approved by the members of the Council. The AOA Archives, Museum and Library is now duly listed in the I.C.A. Bulletin No. 2, May 1974, p. 36. A single example out of many international exchanges that are being implemented is the AOA contribution of a complete collection of the American Journal of Physiological Optics (Vols. 1-7, 1920-1926), an extra set, to the Karolinska Institutets Bibliotek, Fack, S-104 01, Stockholm 60, Sweden in March 1973. The acknowledgement of gift included the comment, "Thank you very much! The journal is not to be found in any Swedish university library, so it is a fine acquisition for our library." The editor of the journal, incidentally, was Dr. Charles Sheard, founding head of the optometry school at The Ohio State University. Veterinary ophthalmology at Alamo: Optometry student Allen L. Cohen, Indiana University class of 1976, visited the Alamo mission fortress site at San Antonio, Texas, recently, and copied off the following from Col. Wm. Barret Travis' Estate Record on display in the chapel remains: "Capt Grumbles cure for blind or weak eyed horses. Apply a cold wet cloth over the eye & then from the spout of a coffee pot or the neck of a gourd pour water from a well or spring or any other water of that temperature over & upon the eye so as to bathe it well. Put a large teaspoon full of calomel in about an half pint or less of sweet oil if this cannot be had beans or foot oil or other thin oil, with this preparation grease the eye lid & with the soft end of a feather insert a little in the eye & this should be done at least once if not twice a day Care should be taken that the horse is not fed upon corn, his legs well rubbed so as to reduce any fever there may be in him & kept in a dark stable." -35- I hope that the sequence of copying by Mr. Cohen, by me, and finally by the typist, has not included errors other than those in the original. Col. Travis, only 26 at the time of the famous battle, 1836, was commander of the Alamo and lost his life there as did every other defender. Trends and objectives, 1898-1907: In response to a patron's request the American Optometric Associ­ ation library, now legally designated as the "International Library, Archives and Museum of Optometry," compiled 50 or more articles that dealt with American Optometric Association activities and personalities documentary of the "trends and objectives" of the new organization during its first 10 years. These have been photocopied and assembled in a binder together with a summary sheet listing the highlights for each of the 10 years. The resultant 77 page volume, captioned "AOA Trends & Objectives. The First Ten Years. 1898-1907," makes fascinating reading. It is available for loan. The sources tapped include The Optical Journal, The Jewelers' Circular-Weekly, The Optical Journal and Review of Optometry, The Optical Review, The A.O.A. Journal, The Optometric Weekly, and the Joseph M. Babcock Archives. Three score and ten: In response to a suggestion made at the recent O.H.S. Reminisce-in last June, a suggestion which elicited overwhelming endorsement, I prepared the following letter on O.H.S. letterhead and mailed it to about 400 optometrists who are now three score and ten years old or older. "Dear Doctor, "Please don't let it get thrown away! "This letter of appeal for your attention is going out to you and every other optometrist who was born before the year 1905. "Among your personal possessions are numerous bits of early optometricana, completely irreplaceable or recoverable if you or your heirs allow the trash collector to take them to an incinerator. "Like what'? 11 \.Je mean correspondence, instrument models, patents, drawings, diaries, lecture notes, manuscripts, photographs, slides, plaques, certificates, diplomas, emblems, seals, medals, trophies, awards, -36- books, pamphlets, correspondence courses, bulletins, yearbooks, fraternity publications, directories, rosters, catalogs, serial publications, newsletters, antique eyeglasses and instruments, scrapbooks, etc., etc. which may be a part of our optometric heritage. Some of you even have memorabilia from your optometric predecessors. It may be regarded as 'junk' by most people, but for those of us who are trying to reconstruct and document optometry's heritage it may be priceless. "All we ask is that you personally take the necessary steps to make certain that these possessions are preserved, preferably in a museum of your choice. It may be a museum in your local community, in an optometric institution, at the American Optometric Association headquarters, or elsewhere. "It usually is not sufficient merely to express such wishes in a will, for wills may not be executed until long after the 'junk' is destroyed. Each item or container must be clearly marked, such as by the enclosed sample adhesive label. More labels are available on request. "Obviously this appeal requires no reply, no acknowledgement, nor money, just a little attention and enjoyable work, but right now. "Heaven forbid, but tomorrow may be too late! "Sincerely, "H.W. Hofstetter, President" The letters went out early in September. Though no direct response is called for, I will not be surprised to receive a few. The names and addresses were obtained from the computerized data from which the 1972 AOA Directory of Members was compiled. Peripatetic optometrist: Not ordinarily entered into optometric records are the very unusual extra-professional activities of optometrists. A number of such endeavours have been duly reported in previous issues of this Newsletter. Whether such information can have historical value may well be doubted, but who knows the substance of history before it is made? George Knox, O.D., a practicing optometrist in Columbus, Ohio, who also has a Ph.D. degree in psychology and for several years was -37- a professor at The Ohio State University School of Optometry (now College), has won 22 ribbons in track sports. He holds records in hurling the heavy discus and the 6-pound shot, the 50 yard dash, the 600 meter run, the 1,200 meter run, the quarter-mile racewalk, and the half-mile race walk for competitors his age. He is 63! On his 63rd birthday he ran 15 3/4 miles. On another day he ran 25 miles in 3 hours, 47 minutes. A mild heart attack in 1966 prompted him to begin physical conditioning. These and other bits of data are reported by columnist Dick Otte in the August 18, 1974 issue of The Dispatch, Columbus, Ohio, and in various offlijal track magazines. Augenoptik education history: The first German "Fachschule fUr Optiker" was opened on October 4, 1909, in Mainz. Later it was transferred to Berlin where it opened on September 4, 1912. The school was temporarily discon­ tinued during World War I, during which the school in Jena (now in East Germany) was founded. The Berlin school re-opened in 1919. The present Augenoptic school in Cologne was established in 1952 and the school in Munich in 1965. The above information and historical details about personalities, circumstances, curricula, and other related German developments beginning in 1871 are discussed in an article by Walter Jachnow entitled "Zur Geschichte der Fachschule fUr Optik und Fototechnik Berlin" in the December 1, 1973, issue of Augenoptiker, Vol. 28, no. 12, pp. 17, 19, and 21, and continued in the March 1974 issue, val. 29, no. 3, pp. 45, 47, and 49. Early "Optometrie": An early optometer described and/or designed by von Graefe in 1863 is illustrated and discussed in "Zur Vorgeschichte des (Phor) Optometers in Deutschland" by F. Mehlhose in the December 1973 issue of Augenspiegel, Vol. 19, No. 12, pp. 620, 622, and 624. 25 years £f German optometry: "25 Jahre Entwicklung in der Augenoptik" is the title of an article in Sliddeutsche Optikerzeitung, Vol. 29, No. 2, Feb. 15, 1974, pp. 66-74, by Herbert Schober of Munich. -38- German lens history: "tiber die Geschichte der Brille (Teil 2)" is the title of Part 2 of the history of lenses by Dr. W. MUnchow of Zwickau, East Germany, in the July/August, 1974, issue of Augenoptik, Vol. 91, No. 4, pp. 98-99. Included is a minnesong verse of the period 1270-1275 which refers to the magnification by a "krystallen Stein." Early lens information: Optometrie; Zeitschrift fUr Augenoptik und Optometrie has started a series of somewhat miniaturized reproductions of pages of the 1815 book entitled "Belehrungen Uber Brillen" by Johann Heinrich August Duncker (1767-1843). The title page, the preface pages, and the first three pages, 5-7, of the text are in the first installment on pages 52-53 of Vol. 20, no. 2, 1973, of the magazine. Pages 8-15 of the book appear on pp. 178-179 of Vol. 20, no. 5, 1973 of the magazine. Continuing pages will be reproduced from time to time to enable the reader to accumulate the complete book. What an ingenious way to get the casual reader to sample a few tempting bits of heritage! Three more memorialized: The following three memorials to optometrists have not been listed previously in this newsletter: The Carel C. Koch Memorial Medal (Reference, American Academy of Optometry). The Charles F. Prentice Memorial Medal (Reference, American Academy of Optometry). The William J. Kuhlman Scholarship Fund (Reference, University of Houston, College of Optometry). London Refraction Hospital: "50 years of the LRH Part 2" in the Dec. 22, 1973, Ophthalmic Optician, Vol. 13, No. 25, pp. 1466-1468, concludes this rather anecdotal series started by L.A. Swann to which I called your attention last January. An optician speaks ~z: Paul Hamblin, a registered medical practitioner who has not practiced medicine since 1946 when he took up optical dispensing in -39- his family's firm, gives his view of the development of the optometry­ opticianry cleavage in an article, in French, entitled "Le clivage de la profession vu par les yeux d 1 un opticien 'dispensing' Anglais" in Photons, no. 62, May, 1972, pp. 6-9 and 12-13. !2_ hundred years of retinoscopy: Michel Millodot, Ph.D. reviews this rather refreshingly and includes some generally unknown facts in "A centenary of retinoscopy" in the October 1973 issue of the Journal of the American Optometric Association, Vol. 44, No. 10, pp. 1057-1059. Two more optometric pedigrees: "A remarkable family of opticians" by E.J. Crundall is an account of four generations of the Wingate family in ophthalmic opticianry, in England. Beginning with George Melson Wingate, 1848-1901, a total of 14 have identified with the profession. "An optical tradition," ostensibly anonymously written but with little doubt by the same Crundall is a similar story about the four generations of Batemans in ophthalmics, also in England. The ophthalmic affiliation jn this instance started with John Bateman (1831-1896) whose cousin Thomas had five sons in ophthalmic optlcianry, now :111 deceased. Four of these sons had a total of eight descendents in optometry, bringing the total Bateman ophthalmic affiliates to 14. The two accounts appeared in the Feb. 25, 1972 (Vol. 163, No. 4218, pp. 13-14) and April 20, 1973 (Vol. 165, No. 4276, pp. 9-18) issues, respectively, of The Optician (London). So, the Batemans and the Wingates may be a challenge to the Pachecos of Puerto Rico (See O.H.S. Newsletter, Vol. 3, No. 4, Oct. 1972, p. 36). Shades of Prentice: Recent correspondence with J. Edward Willenbrock, O.D., 2 Cedar Lane, New Hyde Park, Long Island, New York 10040, uncovered the fact that he purchased the practice of the venerable Charles F. Prentice back in the late 1940's. John Cole's "Heritage": In October 1973 I mentioned a new series of articles entitled "Ht'ritage:l", "Heritage:2", etc. by John Cole in The Optician. The May 24, 1974 lssue (Vol. 167, No. 4332, pp. 4, 6, & 11) contained "Her i. t;tgc: 13". and apparently the series will continue. Mr. Cole's style suggests that he personally witnessed all of the historical details, making it easy reading. -40- In installment number 6 (Vol. 166, No. 4291, Aug. 3, 1973, pp. 14-15) he described the British Optical Association's Army Spectacle Scheme of 1915 as the brainchild of J.H. Sutcliffe, and the post World War I founding of the London Refraction Hospital largely as made possible by the efforts of Owen Aves. The hospital opened on Feb. 22, 1923. In installment number 7 (Vol. 166, No. 4294, Aug. 24, 1973, pp. 4, 6, 8) he described the pressure put on Dr. James Forrest by the British Medical Association forcing him to discontinue teaching pathology detection to opticians. This was about 1925. In the eighth installment, in the September 28, 1973, issue, Vol. 166, No. 4299, pp. 12-13, is a portrait photograph of Mr. J.H. Sutcliffe, a name very familiar to British ophthalmic opticians. The picture clearly shows a very exotropic right eye, though no mention is made of this in the text of the article. I wonder. History of acuity tests: Easy reading and quite well documented is an article by Arthur Linksz entitled, "John Green, the AOS, and the reasonable notation of visual acuity measurement" in the Transactions of the American Ophthalmological Society, Vol. 70, 1972, pp. 314-327. The AOS is the American Ophthalmological Society. History of eye surgery: "Ocular Surgery: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow" is the title of the Presidential Lecture which was delivered at the 1973 annual meeting of the American Society of Contemporary Ophthalmology by Ramon Castroviejo. A brief non-technical commentary, it appears in the January 1974 issue of Annals of Ophthalmology, Vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 73-77, 80-83. More on South African optometry: Continuing the historical theme of the immediately previous issue, the June 1974 issue of The South African Optometrist, Vol. 33, No. 2, includes photographs taken at six prior Congresses of the South African Optometric Association, a chronological list of the first 30 members, a few quotes from early meeting records, and a reproduction of the first page of issue No. 1 dated January 1934. Optometry in Oregon: Two very factual historical accounts appeared in the Summer 1974 issue of the Oregon Optometrist, Vol. 41, No. 2. One "The Oregon Optometric Association" on pages 10-11 & 20, is by the O.O.A. Historian -41- Sam Tyler, O.D. The other, "Sam Chambers tells it like it was" is the reminiscent "comments of Dr. Sam Chambers, 91 years young ••• ," on page 15. Chambers reports that his father was head of the Chambers-Inskeep Company, inventors and manufacturers of C & I self-illuminated retina­ scopes, ophthalmoscopes, and ophthalmometers. I recall in the middle '30s a lecture on the design of the "C & I" ophthalmometer in which several students understood "C & I" to be "Seein 1 Eye" ophthalmometers! Tyler's article starts with the first organized meeting of the Oregon optometrists on October 24, 1899, 75 years ago, and traces names and events through 1950. History of Venezuelan Optometry: This is the caption of a story attributed to Dr. Eduardo A. Briceno a graduate of the University of Houston College of Optometry and a faculty member of the new Escuela Superior de Optometria de Venezuela. According to Dr. Bricefio the first optometrist recorded in Venezuela was William Harry Lobby, an optometrist from New York, who went to Venezuela in the 1920's. He employed and trained Dr. Briceffo's great, great uncle Manuel Behrens who thus became the first Venezuelan optometrist. A Venezuelan association was formed in 1936 but lasted only four years. The Venezuelan Optometric Association was re-established in 1949 and this year is celebrating its 25th anniversary. The article appears in the May, 1974, issue of THE OPTIST, p. 4 Ophthalmoscope: Purkinje, Babbage, Helmholtz? In 1823, decades before the dates of invention of the ophthalmoscope by Babbage and later by Helmholtz, Purkinje performed ophthalmoscopy simply by reflecting the light of a candle into the eye with an ordinary lens through which he looked into the eye. This is thoroughly reviewed in an article entitled "Jan Purkinje and the ophthalmoscope" by Daniel M. Albert and William H. Miller in the October 1973 issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology, Vol. 76, No. 4, pp. 494-499. They also report that a complete English translation of Purkinje's "Physiologic Examination of the Organ of Vision" has been made by Henry J. John. It appears in a publication authored by John entitled, "Jan Evangelista Purkyne, Czeck Scientist and Patriot, 1787-1869," as Memoirs Series Vol. 49, 1959 ($3.00), the American Philosophical Society, IO!f s. Fifth Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106. -42- 50 year old paper: A very comprehensive paper entitled "Telescopic spectacles and magni­ fiers as aids to poor vision" read before the Section on Ophthalmology of the American Medical Association in June 1924 by Harry s. Gradle and Jules C. Stein has been reprinted in the May-June 1973 issue of the Transactions of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology, Vol. 77, No. 3, OP229-253. The article contains 26 illustrations. Always allow for dyslexiacs: Historians, librarians, readers, and writers, like other humans, can suffer from occasional dyslectic lapses, especially in reference listings. The most recent example called to my attention gives reference to Professor Santiago Ramon y Cajal (1852-1934, Spanish histologist and Nobel laureate) as "Cajal, S.R." A library catalog search under "Cajal" instead of "Ramon y Cajal" leads to nowhere unless the librarians thoughtfully provide a "Cajal" card with the advice "see also under Ramon y Cajal." A good biologist of course would be likely to spot the error directly out of familiarity with the name of the illustrious Ramon y Cajal. The above-mentioned error appeared, ironically, in a 1973 book entitled "On Writing, Reading, and Dyslexia"! H.W. Hofstetter, Editor 1974-05-04-001 1974-05-04-002 1974-05-04-003 1974-05-04-004 1974-05-04-005 1974-05-04-006 1974-05-04-007 1974-05-04-008 1974-05-04-009 1974-05-04-010