NEWSLETTER OF THE ).PPTOMETRIC HISTORICAL SOCIETY U.J>tolliet.r;, .... Vert.:t Library cal F.11e (7000 Chippewa Street, Saint Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. 63119) Volume 8 July 1977 Number 3 LIUG • 9 19n mDIAMA U1llV£RS!1V Call for nominations: -- -- .;.;.~'"'-=-~..;..;.;;;.. Our by-laws state, "Election to membership on the Executive Board shall be preceded by the nomination of each candidate by at least three members and the willingness of each nominee to have his name placed on the ballot." The board member whose term will expire this year, December 31, 1977, is Sol Tannebaum, O.D. Nominations for his continuation or replacement for a five year term are hereby requested for placement on the ballot in October. By all means do not hesitate to nominate yourself as a candidate if such responsibility challenges you. Remember, self-nominated volunteers founded the O:.H.S., and unpaid volunteers have kept it going. Nominations should be submitted to Mrs. Maria Dablemont, Seqretary­ Treasurer. Book review ~ Henry Kno 11 : Clinical Refraction and Visual Science, John R. Levene, Butterworths, London, 1977. 346 p. Illus., Cloth, ($25.95) Our immediate past president and Executive Board member John R. Levene is the author of a recently published book. The historical nature of the book is not evident from its title, Clinical Refraction and Visual Science. For the most part the book deals with British contributions to clinical refraction and visual science in the period extending roughly from the American Revolution to the Civil War. Having been taught history on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, I was under the false impression that British interests and energies were devoted solely to coping with the upstart colonials and Napoleon during most of this period. Nothing could be farther from the truth. One need only examine the life spans of some of the best known scientists whose·enerigies were often devoted to clinical refraction and visual science~ Thomas Young (1773-1829}, W.H. Wollaston (1766-1829), and John Issac Hawkins (1772- 1855). or: Levene's book introduces us to many lesser known men of this period whose work in this field contributed significantly to im­ proved vision with optical aids. -28- Lest I give the impression that the author is tooting his British horn, let me point out that Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the United States, among others, also have their day in court. Dr. Levene quotes from Aristotle, for example, who made a distinction between myopia and presbyopia. Dr. Levene goes on to state in one of the book•s numerous notes (thankfully at the end of the chap.ters) that there is some question about the authorship of the passage. In true scholarly fashion, he leaves us hanging, providing a challenge for another history buff to take up the search for the facts. The book is divided into five sections, William Porterfield, M.D. (1696-1771), •simple•ucular Refractive Errors, Adjustment and Aberration of the Eye•s Optical System, Astigmatism, and Neutralization of the Cornea. The first and last sections consist of one chapter each, the middle section contains four chapt~rs and the remaining two sections contain three chapters each. One hundred years from now another historian will claim that the author was obsessed with symmetry! The observation would not be entirely correct since there are two appendices and an index following the last section. William Porterfield is the author of a two volume work, 11 A Treatise on the Eye, the Manner and Phaenomena of Vision, .. which in the words of Dr. Levene is 11 the most influential book on visual optics and visual psychology throughout the eighteenth century... He is best known for his invention of the optometer which was later improved upon by Thomas Young and provided accurate quantitatative data concerning the refractive state of the eye. In addition Porterfield contributed to our knowledge of the pupillary reflexes, the eye•s resolving power, corneal transparency, and the circulation and regeneration of aqueous humor. The chapter contains much biographical information not previously available and places Porterfield solidly in the position of eminence which he rightly deserves. Section two deals with the detection, recognition and correction of •simple• (i.e. spherical) refractive errors. Although the distinction between myopia and presbyopia goes back to the Greeks, we learn that presbyopia and hyperopia were not recognized as different entities until the end of the eighteenth century. A chapter is here devoted to the development of best form and aspheric lenses. The middle section deals with the mechanism of accommodation, night myopia and the invention of bifocals and trifocals. Let me speak briefly of the story of bifocals. All the world knows that Benjamin Franklin invented bifocals ~ but did he? In his often quoted letter Franklin writes that he is 11 happy in the invention of Double Spectacles ... Dr. Levene presents evidence that two painters, Sir Joshua Reynolds and Benjamin West used bifocals in the same time period as did Franklin. Who learned from whom? A question not conclusively answerable. It does make a great deal of sense that a painter, be he myopic or hyperopic, would be an excellent candidate for bifocals. The story here is further traced to additional artists as well as Thomas Jefferson and John Issac Hawkins who invented trifocals. A bibliography of the writing of John -29- Issac Hawkins is given in Appendix 1. As the story is rather complicated, the interrelationships are graphically depicted by a chart on page 156. Would that such a chart had been provided in the next section on astigmatism where the story is even more complicated. The chapter on Night ~opia is very close to my interests and I feel this is one place where I can be critical. In this story I can fault the author only in so far as the ending which has come only within the last two years as written by Herschel Leibowitz and his students of The Pennsylvania State University. Professor Leibowitz has conclusively shown the anomalous myopias, as he calls them, nocturnal, empty field and instrument myopia to be all of the same ilk. In each instance accommodative effort is of no avail to improve the retinal image quality, hence the accommodative mechanism settles to a "position of rest." In the case of instrument myopia this is true since the exit pupils of instruments are most often smaller than the pupil of the user's eye. This explanation of the anomalous myopias requires a mechanism for negative accommodation which has been discussed by a number of authors, Meridith Morgan among them. This concluding chapter in the history of nocturnal myopia was the subject of a session of the American Academy of Optometry at its annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio. I would have been happier if Dr. Levene had used the term "nocturnal" rather than "night 11 • The myopia is brought on, not by the time of day, but rather by the level of illuminance. The section on astigmatism, already alluded to above, is most interesting and introduces us to the contribution of Airy (of Airy disc fame} and a lesser known German investigator, G.H. Gerson, whose dissertation was devoted to the shape of the cornea. A translation of this work (the original is in Latin) is given in Appendix 2. The final section 11 Neutralization of the Cornea .. is devoted mainly to the contributions of Leonardo, Descarte, and LaHire. Phillpe de LaHire was a French mathematician whose life span bridged the second half of the 17th century. His treatment of a lens used to correct myopia 'may be regarded, in concept, as the most advanced contact lens design to have appeared in the contemporary as well as subsequent literature up to the actual invention of the first contact lens (1887}, approximately two centuries later ... The disclosure of this work points up once again how iffy historical precedence can be. Who knows what disclosures will be revealed in the yet unexamined reams of catalogued and uncatalogued written word of mankind. To borrow an oft used simile, what we have before us is just the tip of the iceberg. Dr. Levene has provided us with new perspectives in the historical development of clinical refraction and visual science. We can only hope that he is not detracted from dusty manuscripts and fascinating threads of history by his administrative duties at the Southern College of Optometry. -30- Concerning the first AOA President: Charles Lembke, Sr., was born in Karlsruhe, Germany, in 1835. He came to New York City at the age of 18 where he secured employment in the drug business briefly before deciding to learn the optical business under the tutelage of Charles Alt, one of the most prominent opticians in New York. In 1857 he embarked in the optical business on his own on Park Row, or at Broadway and Ann Street, in the building once occupied by a P.T. Barnum enterprise. About 9 or 10 years later the building was destroyed by fire. From this Mr. Lembke salvaged only a safe which he managed to pull out of the burning structure by means of a rope. He then started business anew in partnership with Julius Gall in downtown New York City. The partnership of Gall & Lembke continued until Gall 1 s death in 1883 or 1893, following which Mr. Lembke was joined by his two sons, Charles Jr. and Emil. In 1901 Charles Sr. sold his share to J.A. Theodore Obrig. Mr. Lembke died on September 1, 1903, survived by two sons and a daughter. Among the patrons of the Gall & Lembke firm had been Mrs. Jefferson Davis, Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant, President James Garfield, and President Grover Cleveland. Mr. Lembke•s prominence as an optician was complemented by his numerous other achievements. He had more than a local reputation as an astronomer. He was a member of the New York Academy of Science and of the Astronomical Society of Brooklyn. He was one of the three men elected by the latter society to go to North Carolina to compile scientific data concerning a total eclipse of the sun. He also perfected a sun dial, having devised a novel method of regulating and manufacturing them. For a number of years he was the only person manufacturing sun dials in New York. As the first president of the American Association of Opticians, now the American Optometric Association, Lembke was elected to serve two successive one-year terms, 1898-1900. Most of the above information is excerpted from two articles, one an obituary in the September 9, 1903, issue of The Jewelers• Circular-Weekly, page 88, and the other a brief commentary on Charles Lembke reprinted from Guildcraft in the July 1943 issue of The Western Optical World, Vol. 30, No. 7, page 298. The obituary was written within less than a week after Lembke•s death, and the other article included several inconsistencies, inviting considerable doubt as to their accuracy and documentation of details. Of special interest is Lembke•s annual presidential address in Detroit, Michigan, at the close of his second term of office in 1900. The following are a few excerpts from the complete address published in the September 1900 issue of The Optical Journal, Volume 7, Number 9, pages 783-786; "A year of prosperity has passed since I addressed you in Rochester which as I learn from good authority was then the largest gathering of.opticians ever assembled either in this or any other country." "The proper and right direction [of optical education] would undoubtedly be a three years• course in a duly -31- chartered college." "The study of the philosophy of optics requires the study of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and you may add electricity and magnetism, with these sciences as a fundamental basis combined with a knowledge of the construction and the workings of instruments used in ophthalmology, microscopy, photography, astronomy, spectroscopy, meteorology, etc., etc." "I am convinced a three year course in such a college will produce the millenium of the optician's perfection." "I believe we are a unit in our oppossition to the promiscuous issuance of diplomas by irresponsible schools, ... " "In the Exhibition Hall you will undoubtedly see many things you have never seen before and have the privilege of learning many new ideas." "The American Association of Opticians has been organ­ ized for the purpose of joining together or blending all parties in the optical calling, be they refracting or dispensing opticians, dealers, manufacturers or jobbers. I bid them all welcome to this annual gather­ ing, and invite all to join and strengthen our ranks." Sesquicentennial Tribute to Fraunhofer: On June 15, 1976, 150 years and eight days after the death of Joseph von Fraunhofer, the attendants of a special colloquium at the Zeiss plant in Jena, East Germany, paid tribute to the services which Fraunhofer had rendered to the development of optics and optical glass. Dr. J. Wittig of the Physics Section of Jena Friedrich Schiller University cited Fraunhofer•s unceasing efforts as "a self-taught man to acquire despite adverse circumstances and unfavourable conditions a sound scientific education which enabled him to break Britain's monopoly in optical instrument making ... " The above was reported by Winfried G~rtner on page 50 of the first 1977 issue of Jena Review, Vol. 22. An English summary of the contributions of two of the speakers is included on pages 9-11 of the same issue. According to the Dictionary of Scientific Biography, published under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies, Fraunhofer "represents the highest order of the union of the craftsman and the theoretician". -32- While .he was pursuing his goal to become a spectacle maker on July 21, 1801, at the age of 14, the workshop collapsed and he was pinned under the wreckage. Elector Maximillian Joseph heard of the accident and presented him with the handsome sum of 18 ducats (circa $42.00?) with which he purchased a glass-working machine and books on optics. His private studies, combined with· his mastery of the optical crafts, ultimately won him recognition as 11 the master theoretical optician of Europe ... He was born on March 6, 1787, in the truly charming Bavarian. city of Straubing, West Germany. He died at the early age of 39 on June 7, 1826, in Munich, where he was having considerable business success in lens manufacture. Optometric legislative history in Puerto Rico: One of my students, Jorge A. Benavente, did a paper in my Legal and Professional Aspects of Optometry course on the history of enactments of Puerto Rican law to regulate the practice of optometry. Here are a few of the historical bits which he included in his report. July 1, 1924: Act 15 was passed to establish the first Board of Medical Examiners. It provided for the regulation of the practice of of optometry as one of its functions. May 15, 1930: Act 78 was passed to supersede part of Act 15 in pro vi ding for a Board of Examiners of Optometry under the Med1i ca 1 Board to regulate Optometrists and Opticians. It specified that the Optometry Board consist of the president and secretary of the Medical Board and three optometrists. June 26, 1964: Act 80 was passed to take the re.gul ati on of optometry out of the Medical Board, to create a new Board of Examiners in Optometry consisting of four optometrists and one ophthalmologist, and to stipulate that,the law apply to Optometrists, Ophthalmologists, and Oculists! June 7, 1973: The law was amended to change the composition of the Board of Examiners in Optometry to include five optometrists only. The law continues to apply to optometrists, ophthalmologists, and oculists whenever they practice optometry. June 30, 1975: Act 121 was passed to require that every applicant for optometric licensure must first practice ore year in the government service at a site designated by the Department of Health to be in need of optometric service. Early optometric cartoon: My hobby of collecting optometry-related cartoons was started in the early 1940's. Although the collection has grown to inmense proportions, I have very few early ones. In the October 1976 issue of this Newsletter, Vol. 7, No. 4, pages 68-72 I included a large number of commercial cartoons which apparently date back to about the turn of the century. In this issue, on the next page, I am including the oldest cartoon in my private collection, one of the CLARIBEL series by Williams, 1911. fl) e ~ . --- ~ ' l ' ' I ' ' -34- Colin~· Fryer on Plateau: The editor's thrill of the month was an April 17 letter from r~r. Colin B. Fryer, F.B.O.A., a very frequent writer of optometric history. His address is 11, Queenscourt Road, West Derby, Liverpool Ll2 8RH, Merseyside, England. Here is his letter in full: Dear Professor, Your note on the nineteenth century Belgian scientist, Joseph Antoine Ferdinand Plateau, in the January issue of the O.H.S. Newsletter was of particular interest, as at the time I was researching his contribution to our knowledge of visual persistence for a book I am writing. Although, as you are aware, this phenomenon had been recorded by such diverse observers as Lucretius (65 B.C.), Ptolemy (130 A.D.), Alhazen (lOth. Century, A.D.). and Leonardo (15th. Century), Plateau's was one of the earliest scientific investigations. Despite· the disastrous result of that experiment at the beginning of his studies - which incidentally I fail to understand why he ever performed in the first place, as direct fixation of the sun was well known to be dangerous even to the ancients - he went on to devise a simple piece of apparatus to demonstrate it. This consisted of a short series of static pictures - usually different stages in an action sequence - arranged around the edge of a slotted cardboard disc which gave an illusion of movement when viewed in a mirror through the slots as the disc was rapidly revolved. To produce the right effect the slots had to be narrow and equal in number to the pictures. Plateau called his apparatus a phenakistascope (or 11 deceitful view 11 ) and towards the end of 1832 marketed it with little or no modification as an optical toy. About the same time an identical instru­ ment was invented, quite independently, by Simon Ritter von Stampfer, Professor of Geometry at the Vienna Polytechnical Institute, who called it a strobo­ scope (or 11 Whirling view 11 ). Other names it later acquired were fantascope, phantasmascope, magic disc, kaleidorama, and Mclean's optical illusion. As the cinema has evolved from this little optical toy, I suppose Plateau is entitled as much as anyone to be called the 11 Father 11 of this modern form of mass instruction and entertainment in addition to his other achievements. With very best wishes, Yours sincerely, (signed) Colin B .. Fryer, F.B.O.A. Another optometric museum: The January, 1977, issue of Optometric News (Optometriese Nuus in Afrikaans) Vol. 3, No. 1, contains an article with a familiar objective, as follows: OPTOMETRIC MUSEUM: During December I had the privilege of seeing the building which has been built to ho~se the Optometric Museum in Johannesburg ..... and for me it was an ex­ citing and satisfying experience. The original shopfront of Reynolds Optometrists in Eloff Street, Johannesburg, has been restored in all it's pristine glory, together with adjacent rooms (which now houses the Diplomas, Photos, equipment, and furniture of a physician at the turn of the century), on the campus of the Institute for Medical Research. Original Eloff Street signs and lamp standards are incorporated into the design, and the whole concept will ultimately provide a record of optometry as it used to be practised fifty years ago. Donations of equipment through the years, as well as frames.etc., have already been received and must now be suitably identified, labeled and displayed. For those colleagues who might have felt that the •wrong• image of the profession might be projected. I say •moenie worry nie'. Grandpa Reynolds 'did not even have a 'shop window•. At this stage in time there are three vital ingredients missing. In order of priority these are:- MONEY: There is a shortfall of just on R3,000 for the erection of the Museum. The manufacturers (A.O.M. & W.) have already donated half the costs, i.e. R3,750 ..... the profession has been conspicuous by it's lack o·f support ..... only RBOO being received in cash. I'm convinced that even in these economic times, not one of my colleagues will be financially embarrassed if they send a donation of RlO each. May I once again appeal to the generosity of my friends in the profession throughout the Republic. EXHIBITS: To make this a truly interesting remembrance of our optometric past, the Museum requires items of special interest like Ferdie Sutton of Paarl's •quadruple' spectacles. I know of another colleague who has a pair of 'plus tens• which the patient mounted in an impala skin frame when the original zyl frame disintegrated after years of use •.... and there must be many more items of interest which can make this Museum a living and interesting display of optometry in South Africa. · MANPOWER: Dr. Cyril Adler, the Curator, with all his enthusiasm and knowledge, needs a small committee to sort out and display the various exhibits. I would be prepared to convene a small committee to do this interesting work. Please let me have your na~es and phone numbers if you are interested in assisting in this fashion. -36- Optometric News, edited by Bill Heath, is the newsletter of the South African Optometric Association, 624 Kerkade Centre, 267 Church Street, Pretoria 0002, South Africa. Afrikaans, incidentally, is one of the two national languages of South Africa, the other being English. It is quite similar to Flemish. The expression "moeni e worry ni e" undoubtedly means "do not fret". In fact I suspect it is about one-third English! 101 years ~: Recently OHS member James Leeds, O.D., sent me a note he received from a Mrs. Lois McCarthy of Pocatello, Idaho, offering to sell for $3.00 a handwritten letter dated August 1, 1876, on EYE AND EAR INSTITUTE letterhead. He passed the note on to me and, wouldn't you know, I mailed the three dollars. The letter came, and I found it fascinating. Just why I wish to describe it I do not know, but all ow me. The paper, 25 x 15 em, a good quality bond, is horizontally ruled with light blue lines. The upper one-fourth is totally occupied by legend and an etching of what appears to be a capitol building with a flag, trees, and clouds, and with horse-drawn carriages and pedestrians in front. All this is printed in brick-red ink. The legend is very artistically lettered and captions are embellished with strokes and curlicues, reading as follows: HUGHES' MEDICAL AND SURGICAL INFIRMARY AND EYE AND EAR INSTITUTE THIS INSTITUTION is open at all seasons for the reception of patients -- a-competent Steward and Matron in charge. Boarding, lodging and ordinary attendance, $6.00 to $10.00 per week. Reasonable charges for medical attention or surgical opera­ tions. Artificial Eyes Inserted upon Reasonable Terms all letter of inquiry should be addressed to PROF. J.C. HUGHES, MD. KEOKUK, IOWA KEOKUK, IOWA ......... l87 .. . Gracefully handwritten in jet black ink and with strokes which obviously indicate the use of a frequently dipped quill pen, is the following message: To \>Jhom it may concern Permit me to introduce to you L.C. Ford, M.D. a young gnetleman who has been a student in my office for the last two years and who at the Close of the last session of the College of Physi­ cians and Surgeons graduated with the highest honours. I take great pleasure in recommending -37- him as a most worthy young man, and qualified in his profession to discharge any of the duties which may devolve upon him. ~responsive chord: Yours J.C. Hughes M.D. Prof. of Surgery and Dean College of Phy & Surgeons Keokuk A letter dated March 21 from O.H.S. member H. Ward Ewalt, O.D. to Mrs. Maria Dablemont: Dear Maria: I am one of the trustees of the Wildermuth Founda­ tion and I was intrigued by Item 5 on page 42 of the July 1976 Newsletter of the Optometric Historical Society. The title of the article 11 0ver There In 1918 With America's First Mobile Optical Unit 11 by E.F. Wildermuth. I would like very much to have.five copies for the trustee~. Please bill me for the costs. With every good wish, Cordially, (signed: Ward} 1898 ~ cures: O.H.S. member James Leeds, O.D., sent me a couple of clippings from the ADVERTISING SECTION of Munsey's Magazine, Vol. 18, No. 6, March 1898, which had been sent to him by a friend. Both advertisements were very pro­ fessionally laid out with borders that look like filigree or embroidery and an illustration of an eye in one and photographic views of sanitarium and clinic buildings in the other. Even without benefit of the several sizes of bold type in the two advertisements the legend conveys well some of the popular concepts of eye care of the day. Here is one: BLINDNESS PREVENTED. ALL DISEASES OF THE EYE CAN BE CURED OR RELIEVED BY Dr. Williams' Absorption Method of treating the eye and lids. NO KNIFE and NO RISK. Consultation at office or by mail free. Hundreds suc­ cessfully treated at their homes and at Dr. Williams' Eye Sanitarium. Descriptive pamphlet mailed free to any address. DR. F.A. WILLIAMS: Eye Sanitarium, West Newton, Mass,; Boston Offices, 200 Columbus Ave. -38- Here is the other: Bemis Eye Sanitarium. The home of the Original Absorption Treatment. Established 1889. The largest and most successful institution in America. [Illustration] OFFICE NO. 1 AND MARION HOUSE. [Illustration] THE BEMIS PLACE. Blindness Can Be Prevented. The Absorption Treatment a Success. It is Endorsed by Representative People. Rev. B.N. Palmer, D.O., of New Orleans, says: For example, if there is atrophy of the nerve, or any other of the several afflictions to which the eye is troubled, it is due to the fact that the eye has become sluggish and dormant. The theory is to wake up that s 1 uggi sh eye and make every pa.rt perform the functions which nature assigns to that part. 11 The treatment is to act directly upon the eye as an organ by various harmless agents applied to stimulate and to vitalize the eye: then the circu­ lation may be restored, the blood will be thrown back on all the parts where it is needed to nourish, so there need be no disease of the eyes which cannot be reached by this treatment, thus avoiding the knife and all risk. 11 I consulted Dr. Knapp, of New York, and Dr. Pope, of New Orleans, who diagnosed my case as atrophy. After one year's treatment they pronounced my case hope­ less. In July, 1896, I consulted E.H. Bemis, Eye Specialist, one eye being nearly sightless and the other only available with the aid of a strong magnify­ ing glass. I had nothing to lose and a great deal to gain. After treatment the strong magnifying glass was discarded and glasses used years ago enabled me to read. 11 An average of over 6,000 treatments given monthly at the Bemis Sanitarium, and hundreds suc­ cessfully treated at their homes by mail. Pamphlet free, describing treatment. The Bemis Eye Sanitarium, Glens Falls, N.Y. We Have No Branch Offices. I have read and re-read the above advertisements several times and have asked myself such questions as, 11 Was this what was meant by freedom of speech? 11 11 00 we now lack the immunity to health claims which our great grandparents must have acquired to survive such cures? 11 and 11 0o today's television commercials convey the same messages, but more subtly? 11 If these thoughts puzzle you, read my questions again. -39- Eidola and simulacra: Perhaps synonymous, and perhaps not, these two words were once used to identify the images, effluent material, films, or bodies which were presumed to be continually streaming off from the object in view, impinging on the eye of the observer, and conveying the nature of color and form which we perceive as attributes of the object. They of course helped express one of the theories of early philosophers as to how optical inform­ ation gets transferred from the externally viewed object to the observer• s mind, or at least to the eye. Those who subscribed to this concept are classified as atomists by David C. Lindberg in his 1976 book entitled 11 Theories of vision from Al-Kindi to Kepler 11 , University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, {$20.00). He classifies another broad category of guesses as the Platonic or Plato's theory of vision, according to which a stream of something issues from the observer's eye and either meets the objects and returns to the eye with its message or signal, or it meets something enroute that emanated from the object. Perhaps the two emanations were presumed to have met somewhere in the intervening space to produce visual sensations. Precisely what these brilliant thinkers of more than two millennia ago meant may always remain unresolved. This is not merely due to the difficulties of ordinary language interpretation but also to unidentifiable contemporary idioms, figures of speech, and timely changes in connotation. Professor Lindberg has attempted to take into account every possible interpretation of theory after theory. These included the vision theories of Euclid, Alhazen, Leonardo, Witelo, Johannes Kepler, and others. Why Al-Kindi's name is in the title of the book I failed to ascertain. Al-Lindi lived in the ninth century A.D. Among his some 260 writings on all branches of learning was a work on optics entitled De Aspectibus. Altogether the book is very readable and extensively documented. It gives the reader a fascinating insight into the struggle we face when we try to understand a phenomenon for which we have only the minutest trace of scientific information. Do !!It eyes deceive me? 11 Why, if eyeglasses were known as early as the 1280 • s, did it not occur to anybody before the end of the sixteenth century that two eyeglass lenses might be combined to produce a more powerful optical instrument? 11 Ronchi regards the answer ... as quite obvious. No scientist placed one lens before another for three hundred years because lenses had been ostracized from science. And why were lenses ostracized from science? Because they deceive. 11 These quotes from a paper by D.C. Lindberg and Nicolas H. Steneck { 11 The sense of vision and the origins of modern science .. , in Science, Medicine and Society in the Renaissance- Essay to honor Walter Pagel, -40- edited by Allen G. Debus, Neale Watson Academic Publications, Inc., New York, 1972, pages 29-45) are interpreted by Vasco Ronchi as a deliberate indulgence in levity. Professor Ronchi 's response is a delightful clarification and reprimand aptly entitled "A fascinating outline of the history of science" on pages 525-555 of the July-August 1975 issue of Atti della Fondazione Giorgio Ronchi ~ Contributi dell • Instituto Nazionale ~ Ottica, Vol. 30, No. 4. Ronchi provides a truly interesting, convincing, and well documented account of the 2000 year handicap or prejudice of "educated" persons which placed under suspicion any observation or inference based solely or primarily on vision. The uneducated, illiterate, and ignorant persons were not so perceptually handicapped. Leonardo, for example, is classified as a member of the more fortunate category. He was "not an academic scholar", but rather "a self-taught man"! Like the "man on the street", he trusted what he saw to be true. The contemporarily educated person waul d have preferred to rely on "reason" and other sense modalities. I personally am convinced that Ronchi is right, if only because of a dramatic experience in my own career. While doing research for my Ph.D. degree almost 40 years ago I had occasion to request the purchase of a Macbeth photometer, an instrument in which the operator adjusts the brightness of an annulus of light until it matches the brightness of the surface being measured. My request was denied by the person in charge of the laboratory, a nationally distinguished physicist, author of a widely used physics test, chairman of the physics department at a "Big Ten" university, and later Dean of the Graduate School. His explanation for the denial was simply that a first-rate scientist should never rely on subjective visual judgments to measure light! Because I had never questioned any other judgment, opinion, or decision he had ever made, either before or after this occasion, the absolutely declared rationale of his denial put to serious test all that I thought I knew. According to Ronchi, I now realize, I was getting educated! Ronchi 's article, incidentally, is in easy to understand English. jl.rt and heritage: Any optometrist who spends a significant amount of time in Germany or vJho othen-Jise becomes well acquainted with the culture of the country soon becomes aware of the intimate involvement of our early heritage in various art forms, in figurines, carvings, stained and leaded glass, paintings, music, opera, cartoons, poetry, and the like. Hardly of artistic bent, even I recently succumbed to buying a $40 leaded glass portrayal of a 16th century "Der Optiker" in a charming novelty store in NUrnberg. A few weeks ago a thank-you note from an acquaintance in West Germany was inserted in a folded card on which was reproduced a copperplate reproduction of "Bri 11 enverkl!ufer im 16. Jahrhundert" (Spectacle merchants in the 16th century) by Phillip Galle after Ioannes -41- Stradanus (1525-1605). Then, at the international optometric and optical congress in DUsseldorf in May, Herr H. Volz, the president of Zentralverband der Augenoptiker, presented to each of many of us a pair of serially numbered, limited edition, rare prints. One of the prints, in full color, is a "Johannes Schefflerius" illustration of a glamorous peddler of spectacles, brushes, scissors, tweezers, jewels, dice, etc., of presumably about 16th or 17th century vintage. The other is a detailed etching of the DUsseldorf quay on the Rhine, probably late 18th century, as a few of the boats are steam driven instead of wind driven. The ophthalmic significance, of course, was the fact that DUsseldorf was the site of the 1977 ophthalmic-optical congress. The point I am trying to make is that optometry•s heritage thoroughly permeates every ordinary art form in Germany, and of this the German Augenoptiker is justifiably proud. No doubt many of my readers will hasten to remind me, quite correctly that this holds true in many other countries as well. We, however, in the so-called newer parts of the world, are not so routinely exposed to such historical reminders. On the contrary we tend to be conscious of a great lack of public awareness of our presence. We pay great sums of money to public relations personnel to accomplish exactly what the profession in many countries already enjoy. IOOL hi story briefly sketched: ._,.-.'""···· "Kurzer Abriss der Geschichte der IOOL 11 (Brief outline of the history of the International Optometric and Optical League) is the title of a review by Peter Abel in the program of the International Q::httalrnic Q:rt:iml Congress, DUsse-ldorf, 14th-19th May, 1977, pages 66-67; 70~71, 74-75, 78-79, and . - 82-83. Herr Abel of West Berlin served a part of 1965 as acting president following the death of George Giles and until the election Of_ Giles• suc­ cessor, the late Reginald Goode. According to Abel, the idea for a league originated in 1924 as a consequence of the ill-fated Odin court case in Paris, France. Odin had been found guilty of practicing medicine by reason of his having used a skiascope to determine the refractive error. In 1927 Mr. Willi Lohmann of Berlin gave a lecture at the First International (Optical) Congress at Oxford in which he described the need for an international organization. Immediately following, Mr. Lohmann undertook to lay the groundwork for the first assembly of international representatives on the occasion of the German association meeting in Cologne. Represented at this founding meeting were Germany, France, Great Britain, Holland, S\>Jitzerland, and the United States, wi.th Sweden joining in a short time 1 ater. During the first year the new international organization was headquartered in Berlin. Ever since then the I.O.O.L. has been located in London with every successive president being English. They were -42- J.H. Sutcliffe, Sir William Champness, George Giles, Reginald Goode, and now George Wheatcroft. The IOOL lay dormant during the war years 1939-1947. Herr Abel describes some of the many philosophical, political, and professional issues which have plagued the League throughout most of its existence and how each and almost every issue was faced and usually resolved progressively. From my own limited knowledge of IOOL history I find Abel •s evaluations very accurate. Included in the article are photographs of the president and past presidents of the IOOL and the building in Cologne in which the IOOL was born, Das Haus der KBlner Btlrgergesellschaft (Home of the Cologne Civic Association). The role of Mrs. Ivy Giles, nee Parnum, was specifically mentioned as a major contribution in the development and success of the IOOL. Mrs. Giles, an OHS member, served for many years as the Secretary of the IOOL. In case you can read German or can get translatirrg services you may be able to get a copy of the attractively assembled and bound congress program by writing to Zentralverband der Augenoptiker, Stresemannstrasse 12, 4000Dtlsseldorf, West Germany. Eyeglasses invented circa 1286: Certainly not before 1285 and quite evidently not after 1288 A.D. are my deduced limitations of the dates between which eyeglasses were invented. This is my interpretation of the profound and con­ vincing analysis of Edward Rosen in his exhaustively researched article entitled .. The Invention of Eyeglasses .. in the January and April 1956 issues of the Journal of History of Medicine, Vol. 11, pp. 13-46 (Part I) and pp. 183-218 (Part II). This means that in about nine years, more arbitrarily in 1986, we can celebrate the ·SPECTACLE SEPTICENTENNIAL. Surely this calls for at least a commemorative postage stamp, especially a seven-cent stamp. Rosen concludes that the city of Pisa of leaning tower fame has a better claim on the in,ventor than any other locality. The tower, incidentally, was under construction at the time. The unidentified 11 inventor, a layman, declined to disclose his method because he wanted to profit by producing eyeglasses ... The account reads much like a detective story as the author carefully reviews and weighs each available shred of evidence and finally rejects the variously proposed theories that the inventor was a Venetian, Florentine, Belgian, German, or Englishman. The Latin and Italian terms for eyeglasses around the beginning of and during the 14th century included 11 0cularia ... , 11 0cularios vitri 11 , 11 0glarios de vitro .. , 11 0cchiali .. , 11 rodoli da ogli 11 , 11 Vitreos ab oculis .. , 11 0cculis de vitro .. , 11 0cclalium11 and 11 roidi da ogli 11 • The last term, appearing in a supplementary rule, dated April 2, 1300, of the regulations of the Venetian guild of crystal-workers, is the oldest known occurrence of a recorded term for eyeglasses, some 14 years after their invention. -43- Williams lantern information wanted: A 11 DR. C.H. WILLIAMS LANTERN FOR TESTING COLOR SENSE" is owned by Steven and Patti Mirkovich, 2380 North Sparks Street, Burbank, California 91504. They are collectors of "interesting things" and would appreciate any possible information about the lantern. They have already received a substantial amount of information from the staff at ILAMO. An illustration was found in Casey A. Wood's American Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Ophthalmology, Vol. 4, Chicago, Cleveland Press, 1914, pages 2410-2411. A biographical account of Charles Herbert Williams by Thomas Hall Shastid is on pages 14025-14026 of Vol. 18, 1921, of the same encyclopedia. Sir Stewart Duke-Elder in his Text-book of Ophthalmology, Vol. 1, C.V. Mosby Co., 1937, credited Williams with introducing the 1 antem test to America at about the turn of the century. Stamped on the inside of the oil lamp box of Mi rkovi ch • s mode 1 is the notation "Peter Gray and Sons, Manufacturers, Boston, r~assachusetts . 11 Dr. Esperanto was,. an ophthalmologist; The author and inventor of Esperanto, the artificial international language, was an eye physician named L.L. Zamenhof. In various referenees Dr. Zamenhof's first and middle given names are shown as Lazarz, Lazarus, Ludwi k, Ludovi c, and. Ludwig. He was born on December 15, 1859, in Bialystok (also spelled Belostok, Bielostok, or Bialystock), Poland, about 105 mi, 169 km, northeast of Warsaw. At that time Bialystok was part of. Russia. Ludwig's fatoer was a teacher of languages. Young Ludwig himself had learned Russian, Polish. Yiddish, German, French, English, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. He studied medicine in Moscow, Vienna, and Warsaw. Dr. Zamenhof's first publication, on July 26, 1887, a brochure describing the Lingvo Internacia, appeared under his pen name, Dr. Esperanto, (which meansrne who hopes). Thus the language came to be known as Esperanto. It quite completely supplanted its predecessor VolapUk, another artifical international language which made its appearance only seven years earlier. Dr. Zamenhof died in Warsaw, where he practiced ophthalmology, on April 14, 1917. W.H.A. Fincham: Even to American optometry students the word "Fincham11 is a nickname for "Geometric Optics". His textbook is a classic, possibly used by more optometry students than was any other textbook on the same or any other topic, and probably over a longer period of years, including possibly three generations. Walter Fincham died suddenly on January 24 at his home in Hornsey, England. That his long life was itself a personification of the most venerable and cherished aspects of optometric history is beautifully documented by three obituaries in the February 4 issue of The Optician (London) Vol. 173, No. 4470, by Roland Champness, H.J. Stockwell, and Robert Fletcher. -44- A hi story of CR39: This is the caption of an ostensibly author-less article in the March 1977 issue of The South African Optometrist/Die Suid Afrikaanse Oogkundige, Volume 36, No. 1, pp. 36 & 40. CR39, for which the chemical name is diallyl glycol carbonate, is the raw material of which plastic lenses are made. The early plastic lens materials 11 Were first produced by the Pittsburg Plate Glass Co during the Second World War, in their Columbia laboratories where new resins were being developed. Supposedly the 39th attempt resulted in a material having all the required properties and this was named Columbia Resin 39 11 • We are then told, 11 Suprisingly, a use could not immediately be found for this new material, and it was some years before a French optical group headed by George Lissac took up the reins to develop CR39 in the optical field ... In a subsequent paragraph we are told 11 ln 1959 Orma·lOOO lenses were launched in France -- and they became available in the UK in the early '60s ... 11 I am obliged to challenge the accuracy of at least the suggestion that the French company was responsible for the intial use of CR39 for plastic lenses. I happen to have some 1955 correspondence in my file attesting to the routine use of CR39 by the Armorlite Lens Co., Inc., then in Pasadena, California, for the manufacture of plastic lenses. Also, I was wearing a pair of Armorlite plastic lenses in 1950. Translations wanted? Because this newsletter frequently makes reference to articles in languages other than English an occasional reader has asked if translations could be made available. Those of us who have some ability in a second language are aware that it is one thing to read, write, speak, and understand the second language, but quite another matter to translate correctly into the first language, or vice versa. Thus a bilingual person may 11 think 11 or express himself adequately in each of two languages but still lack the skill to translate directly from one to the other. This probably explains why those few who acquire the latter skill often prefer to call themselves interpreters rather than translaters. The most reliable translations are those made cooperatively by two persons, each of whom knows the other's primary language as his secondary language. Recently I discovered a firm that is prepared to translate from a wide variety of languages into English. I tested the firm with a somewhat technical Polish document and found them prompt, cooperative and relaible. The cost came to slightly over 3¢ per word. The English was virtually flawless. -45- In case you cannot find such services listed in the 11yellow pages 11 of your local telephone directory I gladly recommend Frank C. Farnham, Inc., Scientific Documentation Services, 133 South 36th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104 (Telephone 215-382-3150). Patented, but h i1 new? Jacob Staiman, O.D., of Baltimore, Maryland, has expressed his regrets that he would be unable to attend the O.H.S. meeting in Toronto on July 5, but he supplied the following interesting bit of information. 11 The city of Baltimore, 1 ike many others are doing, has launched a restoration project to re- build an old house which was the residence of an early mayor of the town. A portrait painted by an artist around 1804 to 1808 shows the gentleman adorned in a brow band spectacle with lenses suspended (as shown in the enclosed photocopy). In connection with this, I have noticed the advertising campaign now currently running in some of the optical journals, promoting just such a style in modern styling. I wrote to the president of the company and his reply mentioned a patent granted in 1859 for such a device. Now the main question is who fabricated the frame in those days and who prescribed the Rx? The portrait is of Mayor Thorogood Smith and is in the Collection of the Peale Museum (Municipal of Baltimore) and the enclosed copy is for the archives of the International Library, Archives, & Museum of Optometry when you have finally availed yourself of the inform­ ation. The trustees of the Peale Museum restrict its use without permission. 11 The portrait which Dr. Staiman enclosed, and which I have forwarded to I.L.A.M.O., shows a headband-supported pair of spectacle lenses remarkably similar to a recently invented pair illustrated on page 16 of the April 1977 issue of Texas Optometry, Vol. 33, No. 4. The latter, howevert are represented as the invention of Max F. Wichers, O.D., of Topeka, Kansas. According to the article on the same page entitled 11 An Interview With M.F. Wickers, O.D. 11 , Dr. Wickers was granted a patent in 197~for his wrap~around suspension. 11 His new concept was selected by Popular Science Magazine in 1973, from over 600 inventions around the world, as one of the 13 most significant inventions. 11 Optometric education circa 1891: Very recently O.H.S. member DR. Reed, O.D. of La Porte, Indiana, wrote me as follows: -46- 11 About 1950 to 1955 I took up an interest in the 'optometry' school in La Porte and dis­ covered that a former 'student' from that school was still alive. I wrote to him and called him and finally got letters from him. I had made an arrangement to visit him while in Fr. Wayne on State Association business. I was late to his office (10 minutes or so), so afterwards he would not correspond or talk to me on the phone. I then got someone else to intercede for me, and you re­ ceived the pictures and teaching or class. notes. The observations are noteworthy in the letters, so I am sending them to you for deposit in the op­ tometry museum, or wherever you think they should be preserved. 11 The 11 Student 11 was Herbert J. Welch, O.D., born April 14, 1862. Two of his letters of 1957 were included in the July 1972 issue of this Newsletter, val. 3, No. 3, pp. 25-28. The two earlier letters to Dr. Reed are now reproduced in typewritten form here as faithfully as possible from the original longhand, including errors of spelling, etc. This deliberate inclusion of errorsis not intended to belittle the writer, for I am sure he simply dashed them off with no anticipation of their being preserved. Besides he was in his nineties at the time. Some of the presumed errors· may in fact be attributable to illegibility .and fading. For example, his periods and commas are not readily dif­ ferentiable. Here they are: 103 East Pontiac st. Ft. Wayne 5. Ind. July 23 52 Dr. D.R. Reed La Porte, Ind. Dear Dr. Reed, Your letter of the 21st just received. I hardly believe that my experience will be of very much value to you. Mr Father, after serving in the Civil War, bought a farm (just Prairy grass) 2 miles east of Goodland, Ind. (about 1867) where I was raised and spent my boy hood days. He was quite Machanical and had a shop in the barn with quite a lot of tools. So about that time the steam engine came into use for threshing and I wanted a toy engine. My parents did not think I needed it so I decided to try and make one, when I was about 15 I got my engine to work nicely, (the boiler was a gal .. paint can.) and I would set it on cook stove and watch it run. A druggist that I was quite machanically inclined and said if I would learn how to repair watches I ·could made $300 a day. I fell for the idea as that was so much better than pitching hay all day for a -47- dollar. Parsons Horological Institute 11 The first, oldest and best 11 } of Laporte seemed to offer the best place to get my education, I was past 19 when I de­ cided to take up the work and started in school, fall of 1891 In 3 months I graduated as a watch-make and they told me a 11 Watch maker11 should be an engraver so I took a 2 mo. course i.n that and I was one of the best in school. In the mean time they tal d me I should know how to fit glasses as 11 most of the glasses were so 1 d thru the-:)e"we 1 ery stores 11 • So in the city was a doctor, 11 Dr. John W. Lambert, ·M, 0. 11 ) .. Instructor in OQ.tical Sceinence71who came to the Watchmaker schooT and gave us a course of lectures etc. in Examining eyes with the trial case & fitting spectacles. I took the course spent several week study, (I still have the notes I took down) However he seemed to be quite up to date as he taught us the Dioptra system as well as the inch system in labeling also taught about astigmatism and muscle trouble etc. and some deceases. This course cost me as I remember $5. and my diploma is signed by 11 J.R. Parsons .. , and 11 John w. Lambert, r~.D. 11 dated 11 Nov. 13 1891 11 ) and I came home to Goodland and started in business 11 as Watchmaker & Optician 11 ina drug store Mar. 16 1892 It was not many months before Parson's School moved to Peora, Ill. and became 11 Parsons, Ide and Co. 11 and later Bradley Politectcal School. In year of 1907 the Indiana Law was past and I was exempt from exam­ ination because I had fit glasses 3 years prior. I never knew 11 Dr Curtis 11 nor any other school there There was another watch maker. school 11 Hutchens 11 started about that time. Of course we were extra smart in those days because now one has to go to college 5 years in this state and cost hundreds of dollers instead of $500 to become an Optometrist We were taught the use of trial lenses to get vision. I soon used the fogging method, some but don't know whether I got that from school or magazines later. I also used Homoaptropine a short time. I still have a picture of group of watch-maker-studients with their names but dont think it records their address. And I can't recall the ones that also took the study to become 11 0pticians 11 Of course I did not know too much when I first went into business but studied books and papers and now have 60 years of experience which all goes to­ gether to make efficiency, However I still use the trial lenses in my work, sometimes the retiscope, but have no refractometers & big showey machines. -48- If you would like to have a list of those students (suppose most of them are now dead) I could send them as a copy of instruction I recorded from the lectures, I could send that also. I note nee Dr. Noah Bixler 11 in cornner of your letter, I wonder, I thought he was an optometrist at Decaur, Ind or Berne just S East of here. I thank you, Very truly H.J. Welch Written 6/4 but held up for correction etc. 103 East Pontiac st Ft. Wayne Ind Dear Dr D.R. Reed Your letter of the 3rd was received this A.M. and I too was sorry to miss seeing you. However I telephoned Dr Morris•s office and they did not know any thing about you since l.P.M. I generally do not close my office unti 1 4 to 430 P.M. and I waited until 11 430 11 Thurs eve before going home, I have a great deal of work to do around my home and had planned that evening to finish painting my house (which I did at 830 PM) If you had phoned me I would have gfadly waited longer. If I knew you were coming. I did find an old picture of J.R. Parsons the owner of the watchmakers school together with 29 others; 2 or 3 instructiors and res~ students includ­ ing myself. I think all the students were there learning how to repair watches. How many of them besides my self attended the lectures and instructions given by Dr John W. Lambert on optics I don•t know, nor have I any separate picture of them nor list. I also gathered to gether some glasses mountings & frames of the early days to show you if interested; I have some of the old black 11 hard rubber 11 eye glasses to fit on nose I think, of B & L make who I believe were the first to make eye glasses in this country. They are spherical lenses marked by c·inch system11 also 11 finger piece 11 mount­ ings also 11 Cement 11 bifocals little wafers cemented on, to form the reading part in use about the time I started in business 63 years ago. (March 16, 1892) some bi foca 1 s were ~ ~ . June ~ - 55 9 -49- thus .f) in two pieces (groove be- tween) t1 and held together by frame (unsightly line between the two visions but no cement to get bad in reading parts like 11 Cement bifocals 11 When I got home Thurs eve. some one telephoned to my home stating they had the evening meal all prepared for you & Dr. Morris & waiting, but could not locate you folks. I also received your Bulletin mailed here Thurs. I just wondered about next to last paragraph, 11 At no time has there been M.t retreat from this stand. 11 If I remember right, our state law was pass in 1907 and Opticians were changed to 11 0ptometrists 11 • Later --- I have just found a copy of 11 0ptometry Law acts 190]11 On page 5 title 11 Three years 1n Practi ce-Certi fi cate-Fee. 11 Sec 7 Every person who has been engaged in the actual and continuous practice of Optometry as defined by Section 4 in the state of Indiana, for three (3) years immediately Prior to the time of the passage of this act. etc, & for sum of $500, issue to him a certificate of registration. (You will note no examination, also sec #6 There was, (if I remember) some objections about the law from the regular Physicians & surgeons at that time Hence they did not have to be examined and I believe no licence fee (and some knew but little about the eyes and nothing and nothing about the fitting of glasses (But the M.D. •s did not want to be let out nor ignored.) So it was, as I had been fitting glasses about 14 years before the law was past, I did not have to pass any examintion, Just paid my $5 00. I also just found 11 0ptometric Code of Eth.ics. suplements copyright 194]11 also copy of Optometry Law under date 11 Jan 1, 193811 In regard to something for the 11 museum11 I don•t know what is best. My Diploma signed by 11 J.R. Parsons-Principal" and 11 John W. Lambert. M.D. Instructor in Optical Sciences 11 dated 11 Nov 13th 1891 11 I have in a frame and hanging on wall of my office by my state certificate. In regard to 11 notes 11 I had kind of book made by fasting 6 double sheets of 11 fools cap 11 paper together that I started to use when in school taking 11 book keeping 11 the last half of the book I used at that time in taking notes, pictures of eyes, lenses, diagrams,and tables of 11 inch system compaired with 11 Dioptra 11 etc. all in ink but was not properly taken care of -50- & soiled & 63 years old and the 6 sheets written on both sides of the paper. I could copy it off but some task, you might know best. It might be best to be on one side of the sheet only. another thing about donations. I never felt it was just right to take $17 00 a year from me & all optometrists to help finance the school~ make more optometrists & competetion which has reduced my practice. All right perhaps to start with but now school should be self supporting. Very truly. H.J. Welch O.D. Bits of early academia: Robert A. Williams, Director of Alumni at the Southern California College of Optometry, wrote as follows: 11 I read with great interest Y.Our listing of extinct schools and colleges of op­ tometry. 11 1 am responding to your request for omissions on that list. According to records here at SCCO, the Danders School of Optometry, which was founded in 1915 by ~r. Harry Fuog in Los Angeles, merged with the then Los Angeles Medical School of Ophthalmology and Optometry in 1920. ••Also, according to our records the original name of this institution was the Los Angeles School of Ophthalmology and Optometry. The word medical was added when the school was incorporated in 1911. Delaware Ophthalmic College: The listing of names of discontinued schools and colleges of optometry in our 1 ast issue prompted ~1ari a Dabl emont to send me the name of another, the Delaware Ophthalmic College, which she found virtually buried in a single-paragraph news item in the October 1899 issue of T_b_~ Q_p_!_i_~_l ~ournal, Vol. 6, No. 8. According to the news item a motion was made, seconded, and un­ animously carried at the annual meeting of the Delaware Optical Association in Dover on September 6 11 that all persons that graduate at the Delaware Ophthalmic College be entitled to membership in this association 11 • Notes on early schools: A brief letter dated July 30, 1952, from Noah A. Bixler, O.D., (deceased) of Decatur, Indiana, to O.H.S. member D Russell Reed, O.D. of La Porte, Indiana, includes the following paragraph: 11 There was a watchmakers school in La Porte before 1900 a Mr. Higganbotham was connected with this, who was a very fine workman (knew him person­ ally) They taught some optics. Omar DeSelms from Attica also had a school of some sort for watch­ makers and some optics. This was a corresponding course though there might have been some attendance. DeSelms was president of the association way back. You can get the date from the anniversary program of 1947. There was also a school in South Bend, Correspondence course and they furnished a trial case with this. 11 The name OeSelms struck me as unfamiliar, unusual, and interesting, so I checked through each edition of The Blue Book of Optometrists begin­ ning with the first, 1912. I also checked the 1947 issues of The Indiana Optometrist where I discovered a posthumously published article by A.C. Anderson entitled 11 History of Organized Optometry in Indiana 11 , Chapter 1 in Vol. 19, No.1, January 1947, pages 11,20-22, and Chapter 2 in No. 3, March 1947, pages 18-23. Omar C. DeSelms was accepted into membership infue Indiana Optometric Association in 1907. In 1917 he was elected to the 1st. Vice President of the Association. The volumes at my disposal have missing issues for 1918, so I did not confirm his ascendency to the presidency. Dr. DeSelms• entry in the 1912 Blue Book shows him in Attica, Indiana, as graduate of the 11 Peoria Optical College 11 • In the second edition, 1914, he is identified as an 1899 graduate of 11 Brad. Poly, Ins. 11 The third edition, 1916, shows him an 1899 graduate of 11 Bradley Horological Institute 11 and as having completed courses at 11 American Optical Call ege 11 in 1906 and 11 Northern Illinois College 11 in 1912. The next change of information appeared in the 1924 edition where his attendance included 11 N. I 11 . Co 11 . of 0. & 0. , 1912•,• and 11 Nor. Ill. Call 1923 11 • The 1926 and 1928 editions listed him in Logansport, Indiana, instead of Attica. His name does not appear in subsequent editions. More notes on extinct schools: A letter from OHS member J.R. Hale, O.D., of Sunnyside, Washington, informs us of three omissions in our lists of early optometry schools in our last issue, as follows: Seattle College of Optometry, Seattle, Washington Trowbridge School of Optometry, Chicago, Illinois Los Angeles School of Optometry and Ophthalmology. -52- Then Dr. Hale comments further: "f~any years ago the Seattle college closed. The Trowbridge school operated in the early 1900's and my great aunt (Mrs. Mae Booth Jones) attended there and graduated. "As previously noted, there was a school in Spokane, the Washington School of Optometry. Both my aunt and uncle graduated from Trowbridge school and he died shortly thereafter. My aunt was one of the first enthusiastic supporters of Optometry among women and attended many AOA annual conventions. She obtained licenses to practice in many states and later settled in Spokane. She became an instructor at the Washington School of Optometry and married Dr. A.E. Jones as a fellow faculty member. Later they purchased assets of the school and operated it for some years {in 1920's). "The school charter is maintained by a Spokane optometrist, although the school is now inactive. "A Spokane group waul d like to have a new school of optometry become affiliated with Washington State University at Pullman, Washington. They would also like to have the Washington school of optometry charter presented to WSU, if this "dream" ever becomes a reality. A new regional school covering Eastern Washington, Western Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Colorado, etc. would be an interesting possibility. With the California schools and Pacific University already with more application than they can admit, this new regional school has possibilities, but much more planning unfortunately needs to be completed." Another extinct college: The optometry department of the American Medical College, St. Louis, Missouri, is mentioned as having eighteen graduates who "received their diplomas at the College Monda-y evening", in a news item in the June 19, 1913 issue of the Optical Journal and Review of -~tomet~. Vol. 31, No. 26, p. 1593. The names of the 18 recipients are listed. Lest we forget: ~1rs. Dablemont recently sent me a copy of a full column advertisement from the March 1896 issue of The Optical Journal, Vol. 2, No. l, page 37, offering, in large letter headline,~ POST-GRADUATE -53- COURSE IN REFRACTION. Said the announcement, 11 Beginning February 1 and continuing indefinitely thereafter we have arranged to give ADVANCED INDIVIDUAL PRIVATE INSTRUCTION, to those who have been making a specialty of Refraction and the mechanical adjustment of frames. 11 These courses will embrace instruction in the use of the Ophthalmometer, Retiniscope [sic!], Ophthalmoscope, Refractometer, Prisms and kindred subjects. 11 Students may select, at their option, any or all of these studies. 11 Those desiring to avail themselves of this opportunity may make application at ANY TIME, as no regular classes will be formed. We have found individual attention to students much more satisfactory to them and to ourselves. 11 Thorough and complete directions and actual practice in the use of Test Lenses will be given at any time to students who have had little or no experience in fitting eyes. 11 For further particulars address JULIUS KING OPTICAL CO., 14 Maiden Lane, New York 11 Birth of~ magazine: Dr. Damien P. Smith, Executive Director of the Australian Optometrical Association, sent me a reprint of an article in the February, 1977, issue of the Australian Journal of Optometry, Vol. 60, No. 2, pp. 52-63, with the note, 11 I suspect th1s will titillate your historical taste buds. 11 It did. It was a transcript fromthe Minutes of the first Federal Conference of the Australian Optometrical Association, held in Melbourne, December 1918, previously published in the December, 1918, issue of the Commonwealth Optometrist, Vol. 1 .• No. 1, one of the earlier titles of the present Australian monthly. The Union List of Serials shows Australasian Journal of Optometry and Optometrist of New-sDUt~Wales as other variations of titles. It also shows Vol. 1 beginning in 1919, which arithmetically fits neither with the above noted December 1918 date for Vol. 1. No. 1, nor with the fact that Vol. 60, No. 1, appeared in January 1977. This merely supports my contention that there are more aberrations in our historical records than in the worst optics. Hell, the topic under discussion was 11 Commonweal th Monthly Optical Publication••. Mr. W.T. Wenborn, who in the photograph of the eleven delegates from four states appears to have been one of the youngest, perhaps about 20, made the opening pitch around the theme, .. l ~that the development of -54- optometry justifies the nee_ci for an optometrical publication based .Q!!_ strictly optometrical_ lines." He then pointed out that three periodicals in the Commonwealth were already serving optometry, but by no means exclusively. In Victoria, for example, the Jewellers• Gazette, was said to have been "appointed as the official organ of the Victorian Optical Association". Similarly the Commonwealth Jeweller and Watchmaker was the official organ of the Institute of Ophthalmists of Queensland and of the South Australian Optical Association. The Optometrist of New South Wales had been founded "two or three years" ago as a purely optometrical publication, by and for optometrists, but serving only New South Wales. Mr. W.G. Kett, also quite young looking, apparently the editor of the New South Wales periodical and destined to edit the new publication for the Commonwealth for many years to come, then presented at length the argument that a Commonwealth publication would serve to pull together the far flung fragments of the profession throughout Australia. A Mr. A.P. Greenfield of Queensland expressed regret that the matter had not been debated by his Association, "because the Agenda paper came along so late -- in fact; it only arrived the day before I 1 eft to come down." (!) A few of his other comments are equally fascinating; "The first paper I recollect being published and devoted to optical work in Australia was one published in Sydney in 1893 or 1895. I think it terminated its life in 1897". "The Optical Journal of New York is bulky but it carries a lot of useful information, and a lot of trash". The actual birth of the Commonwealth Optometrist then was accomplished in a cautious series of successively introduced and carried motions, the first "That this Conference adopt the idea of inaugurating a Commonwealth Optometrical Publication". The next motion recommended the adoption of the Optometrist of New South Wales by each state association at no cost but with the expectation of a guarantee of a minimum number of subscribers. It passed unanimously. On the next day it was moved and passed that the name of the publication be the Commonwealth Optometrist. Then it was moved and unanimously passed "That a sub-committee be appointed in each state to supply matter each month, this to be guaranteed by the individual states". This was fo 11 owed by a motion "That New South Wa 1 es have a fr,ee hand in the publi:ation of the Journal, at the same time guaranteeing that no state will be advertised prejudicially to the interests of others in so far as practicable". It carried, and finally a motion was introduced and carried recommending that the optometric associations in the various states terminate their respective official connections with the watchmaker and jeweler periodicals. Mr. Wenborn, incidentally, made all except one of the motions. We could use him today! The states of Tasmania and Western Australia and the Northern Territory apparently had no delegates at the Conference. H.W. Hofstetter, Editor 1977-08-03-001 1977-08-03-002 1977-08-03-003 1977-08-03-004 1977-08-03-005 1977-08-03-006 1977-08-03-007 1977-08-03-008 1977-08-03-009 1977-08-03-010 1977-08-03-011 1977-08-03-012 1977-08-03-013 1977-08-03-014 1977-08-03-015 1977-08-03-016 1977-08-03-017 1977-08-03-018 1977-08-03-019 1977-08-03-020 1977-08-03-021 1977-08-03-022 1977-08-03-023 1977-08-03-024 1977-08-03-025 1977-08-03-026 1977-08-03-027 1977-08-03-028