NEWSLETTER OF THE OPTOMETRIC HISTORICAL SOCIETY (7000 Chippewa Street, Saint Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. Volume 9 January 1978 Number 1 Election results: C\ This time we had two duly nominated candidates for the vacancy on The Executive Board created by the expiration of Dr. Sol Tannebaum's term. Lead­ ing by a very comfortable margin was James P. Leeds, O.D., 2470 East 116th St., carmel, Indiana 46032. This was Jim's second try as a candidate. He had lost out last year to the internationally popular Grace Weiner. Dr. Leeds' five year term will expire on December 31, 1982. Ballots have been sent out to all five members of the 1978 Executive Board to elect officers from among themselves. If all five ballots are returned prior to the final typing of the last paragraph of this issue I shall announce our 1978 officers at the end of this newsletter. Otherwise they will be an­ nounced in the April issue. OHS gathering number IV: 31 persons gathered together in the Reynolds Historical Library reading room of the Listen Hill Library of the Health Sciences on the campus of the University of Alabama in Birmingham at 4:30 p.m. Sunday December 11 as a bit of diversion from the more intensive academic pace of the American Academy of Optometry meetings of several days duration. O.H.S. officers and trustees present included President Knoll, Vice-President Grace Weiner, Secretary­ Treasurer Maria Dablemont, and newly elected Trustee James Leeds. Following a very few routine official O.H.S. comments several "old-timers" were prevailed upon to give out with some of their early personal experiences and observations of historical optometric interest. Examples of personalities mentioned were those of Frederick A. Woll, Albert Fitch, Wm. Needles, Charles Sheard, his brother Shag Sheard, Clifford Treleaven, Ralph Minor, and James P.C. Southall. Commentators included Meredith Morgan, Fred Lit, E.J. Fisher, and Theo Gumpelmayer. Optometry in 1819 encyclopedia: "The Cyclopaedia, or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature" by Abraham.Rees, "with the assistance of eminent Gentlemen," was printed in London in 1819 "for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown." It consists of 39 volumes of text and six volumes of plates, truly almost a three-meter long shelf of large books with fine print. I found a complete set at the Indiana University Library, and Mr. Karl E. Sterne, Vice President and General Manager of Nelles Griot, tells me that it is also at the University of California Irvine Library. -2- The entry under Spectacles, in Volume 33, is a 7,500 word dissertation which starts with the definition, "SPECTACLES, an optic machine, confifting of two lenfes fet in a frame, and applied on the nofe, to affift in defects of the organ of fight." The article includes the history of spectacles, their use, types, and num­ bering systems. Its technological sophistication is well illustrated by the follow­ ing excerpted rule "for determining the concavity of a glafs that is best adapted for near-fighted perfons, to thofe who are unable, from diftance or any other caufe, to fuit themfelves at the fhop of an expert optician. The rule is this: multiply the diftance at which the pe~fon reads with eafe, (which in our author's cafe, with his left or beft eye, was -five inches,) by that at which he wifhes to read, which may be ftated at 12 inches; divide the product, 60, by 7, the differ­ ence between the two, and it leaves nearly 9 inches for the focus of the concave glafs that fhall produce the, defired effect. This glafs anfwers to ~hat fold under the name of N°6; and this is a double concave glafs, ground on a tool of 8 inches radius on one fide, and 11 inches on the other, the mean between which is very nearly 9 inches." Volume 14 includes 37 pages, approximately 54,000 word~ on the subject of ~· Volume 4 shows 19 plates on Optics, with an average of about nine superbly drawn figures on each plate, a total of about 170 optical figures! The article on Lens itself covers eight pages, about 12,000 words. Another welcome contribution: The following is a recent letter from Professor L.A. Ress, Apt. 4A, 3235 Cambridge Avenue, Bronx, New York, 10463: "Over the past few years I have become an avid reader of the OHS Newsletter and I thought that the .enclosed items might be of use in some future issue. "As for your request that an OHS member look into the Ellis Island situa­ tion {p. 68 of vol. 8, no. 4), I can inform you that I visited Ellis Island in May of 1976, the first weekend that it was opened to visitors. The surround­ ings were not pleasant, to put it mildly. The high dust content of the at­ mosphere inside the buildings on the island was far removed from the proper environment minimally required for any sort of examination. And this is years after the facilities were used as a health station. I shudder to think what it was like with thousands being herded through the facility daily. I do re­ call seeing an eye chart propped up against the wall in a dark, dusty corner. However, I must caution you that there is a strong possibility that this had been placed haphazardly for the benefit of the tourists who were now supposed to be shepherded through the landmark. While the guides were courteous, they were not all that adept at answering technical questions with any degree of accuracy. The O.H.S. query falls into this category and therefore, instead of being able to give you an immediate answer, I shall have to await a written reply from the Superintendent of the facility. I have already commenced in­ vestigation on this and hope to have an answer shortly which I shall be happy to share with you and the other members of OHS. -3- "I can also tell you that there is a pair of metal rinuned spectacles on display in the American Museum of ~igration on Liberty Island, to which you must go first in order to go to Ellis Island. A change of boats is necessary. "Quite frankly, while the boat trip is nice on a sunny day, the answers to our questions are not on either of these islands, but in the files of the U.S. Department of the Interior, whose answer (I reiterate) I await. The likelihood of an optometrist, per se, being on duty is small as New York State did not license optometrists prior to 1908, .and by that time Ellis Island no longer served as an immigration station. Chances are, the health inspectors were merely laymen, each trained for a specific task, but the immigrants didn't know that and to avoid trouble addressed everyone as Doctor." Professor Ress, incidentally, is not only an historian with specialization in the history of science, he is also an Ophthalmic Dispenser, a Master of Ophthalmic Optics, a Fellow of the National Academy of Opticianry, a Phi Beta Kappan and a Phi Alpha Thetan ·(History). His faculty affiliations involve both History and Ophthalmic Dispensing. More About !?.!_. Eugene Wiseman: The following is a letter received from O.H.S. member Richard E. Schugar, O.D., of the Optometric Center of Maryland: "The October issue of our newsletter mentioned Eugene Wiseman on page 66. I felt prompted to write this letter and relate to you the following account. "Approximately six sununers ago I was visiting my parents in Buffalo, New York. I was a 2nd or 3rd year student at Pennsylvania College of Optometry at the time. One afternoon I went antique hunting and came across three boxes of optometric equioment at one dealer's shop. I was told they had just acquired these goodies. "Contained in the box was a 1908 DeZeng phoropter, an Ives Visual Acuity Apparatus (exactly like the one in the Pennsylvania College of Optometry lobby), a number of old hand instruments, a 15" diameter wheel with plus and minus spheres, two amblyoscopes, parts to old instruments, an extrinsic ocular muscle model, a whole bunch of lantern slides, a sphygmomanometer, some wall charts, and other assorted 1 junque.' "Also included was a series of four paperback books on effective speech­ making. These books were still in the original mailing container. The addressee was Eugene Wiseman!! "At that time I knew little of the man, so upon my return to school I proceeded to look through recent journals for the man's obituary and in old Blue Books for a biography. I was thrilled to learn I had acquired a very prestigious man's old equipment. -4- '~r. Wiseman graduated from Pennsylvania College of Optometry in 1905 and moved to Buffalo two years later where he acquired the practice of Dr. Alexander Martin. "During his professional career, Dr. Wiseman was President of the Buffalo optometric society (1908), 3rd Vice President of the American Optometric Associa­ tion in 1920, President of the American Academy of Optometry in 1923, Chairman of Publicity of the American optometric Association in 1920, and held other posts in professional associations. · • •' · "Among the books he wroee· . ..ter•"~'lililcling Qptomet9 ·(1918), Blood Pressure in Ocular Work (1916), and Ocul~~;t Sympt:OIIatology ~1924'). ~ I }ill'Ve a copy of this last book. - , ' ,, .. •. )'' ~· · .·. _;.. ~ . .:. "Dr. Wiseman was a frequent contributor to the 'Journal' in the period 1912- 1916. His articles· advoca4:ing the tak~g of ~lood presaui'e ,h.Y -c)ptometrists appar­ ently created great contPOVersy. : · ' "Dr. Wiseman died iri 11968. 4't 'the age of 81. "One of the most interesting items I purchased that summer day was a collec­ tion of lantern slides. Many were hand done depicting ocular anatomy. I gave these to Dr. Rybachok at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry. "I still possess eleven slides that must have been used for public relations work. They look as though they may have appeared in periodicals, but I never did the research to see if this was the case. "I have made photocopies of these slides. If you would like to inspect the slides, I will be happy to send them to you. "Thank you for giving me the initiative to relate my story." The xerographic copies suggest that ten ofthe eleven slides are photographs of professionally prepared newsprint advertisements replete with eye-catching illustrations, headlines, double columns of explanatory legend with subheadings, and a closing advisory punch line in bold type. The compositions include no personal or organizational identification of sponsorship, the simplest form of institutional advertising. The ten headlines? Here they are: How America's nerve-waste has been reduced ~ OPTOMETRISTS Four headaches ~ of !.!Y.!. ~ ~ science of OPTOMETRISTS Three ~ of ~ workers need the science of OPTOMETRISTS 42 states safeguard their people's eyes kt legally registering OPTOMETRISTS Before you subject your eyes !£_ either drugs ~ glasses, consult !:!!.. optometrist OPTOMETRISTS could ~ strengthened 45 years of Huxley's wonderful brain-work -5- OPTOMETRISTS have scientifically helped i million eyes OPTOMETRISTS ~ helping workers win promotions OPTOMETRISTS Mtght have multiplied ~ literary genius of Thomas Carlyle Surely you would give your children crutches if they needed them! Why not .h!Y!. ~ OPTOMETRIST find whether they need glasses? Beneath the large capitalized word OPTOMETRIS~in each display was the parenthetical phrase, in small type, "(Pronounced Op-tom-o-trists)." The eleventh slide is a photograph of a flow chart, a schematic diagram of the circumstances, activities, and attributes essential for the individual optometrist to gain success •. I seems likely that Dr. Wiseman used this with his lectures to colleagues. Of glass legumes: A lens is a lentil, and a lentil is a small biconvex legume or seed, such as a bean or pea; transparent glass is crystalline, or just crystal. These simple facts give unusual historical significance, says V. Ronchi, to the following passage written in 1589, at least three whole centuries after the invention of spectacles: Various are the effects of a crystal lentil and it is opportune not to disregard them; because some are concaves, others are convexes and they have the same effect as the spectacles, something utmost useful to the man for his daily activities. Nobody has related till today about their causes or their effects. It was written originally in Latin by Giovan Battista Della Porta, known as 11 Porta by his contemporaries, in his ''Della magia naturale" (about the Magic of Nature), and 22 years later in Italian. The translation into English is by Professor Vasco Ronchi in an easy-to-read article entitled "Giovan Battista Della Porta, the lucky optician" in the May-June 1977 issue of Atti della Fondazione Giorgio Ronchi, Vol. 32, No. 3, pp. 545-551. ---- Professor Ronchi has published substantial evidence that the history of the role of the scientific community with regard to lenses at the time spectacles were becoming popular was a "fantastic story" of suppression of information. "Lenses to correct presbyopia were the inventions of simple workers. They discovered and made them popular without the assistance, or better, against the advices of the science of their time." Why were the lenses so condemed? The simple and inflexible logic was, "the objects seen through the lenses are smaller or larger than those~~ the naked eye ~evidenced ~the touch, which grant !2!:, truth. The images seen throu8h the lenses ••• give false information about the world." The equally simple consequence was that" • scientists, mathematicians, philosophers, were convinced that lenses were ••• not a study for a man of culture." -6- In his collecting of all the writings about spectacle lenses during the three centuries between their invention and I1 Porta's publication Ronchi has found "three short passages in XIV century, not a single one in XV century, and four mentions in XVI century, and every time to condemn the use of lenses and to confirm their deceptive character." Il Porta himself was regarded as neither a scientist nor a scholar. Ronchi chooses to call Il Porta "the first optician", and closes his article with, "Naples should do more to glorify the name of this son. No doubt he is one of the most vivid gems of her cultural and historical patrimony." Re the "following gaze" You will recall this phenomenon discussed in the previous issue of this news­ letter. My most regular respondent, James Leeds, O.D., points out, "There is a portrait of former U.S. President Benjamin Harrison (1833-1889) in his Indianapolis home, now a museum, which has his eyes following the viewer. I have seen it written up several times in the Indianapolis press, and I have visited the museum and observed it myself." The same phenomenon has been utilized effectively in movies, especially in stereoscopic moving pictures in which, for example, an oncoming train is perceived to be rushing precisely headlong and simultaneously toward every person in the theatre, -- toward every viewer in the first row across the front of the theatre as well as toward everyone in the rear, in the balcony, and in the mezzanine loges. Presidential book review: The following letter from O.H.S. President Henry A. Knoll is really a book review: Just read a new addition to our library which links the availability of negative spectacle lenses with the invention of the telescope. From it I also learned that Galileo was not the inventor of the Galilean telescope! The story surrounding the invention is fascinating and complicated and the author is not able to establish priority with certainty. The three likely candidates were all Dutchman; two of them were spectacle makers. The spectacle makers were Hans Lipperhey (Lippensum, Lippersein, Laprey, Lippensheim, Lippershey) and Sacharias Janssen and the third, was Jacob Metius, an in­ strument maker. Lipperhey applied for a patent before the States-General in The Hague in September 1608. A peace conference between the Dutch and the Spanish was going on at the time and The Hague was crowded with diplomats and their entourages from all over Europe. Word of the invention leaked out and news of the new invention spread through Europe very quickly. "The device itself was for sale in the shops of spectacle makers in Paris by April, 1609; in l -7- May we find one in Milan; in August the telescope had reached Venice and Naples." ~ Invention ~ £!!!. Telescope by Albert van Helden is published in the Transactions of £!!!.American Philosophical Society, Volume 67, Part 4, 1977, $6.00. The first 27 pages are a very readable account of the story of the invention. The remaining 40 pages contain the documents referred to in the original and in translation. Professor van Helden mars this very complete and scholarly work by perpet­ uating the concept that myopia follows excessive near work (page 10). Except for this blemish the monograph is a must for any serious student of the history of optics. A SPECTACLE VENDING MACHINE: Winston C. May, O.D., of Manassas, Virginia, sent me a copy of U.S. Patent No. 869,807, dated October 29, 1907, application filed December 1, 1906, Serial No. 345,877, granted to Arnold Rosenfeld, of Bel Air, Maryland, for a VEJIDING APPARA'IUS. Says the patent, "This invention relates to a combined eye testing or examining and coin-controlled eyeglass vending apparatus." Further, "The main object of the invention is to provide an apparatus by which the intending purchaser of a pair of eyeglasses or spectacles may test his eyes before purchasing, and then, by the operation of suitable coin-controlled mechanism upon the insertion of a proper coin, obtain a pair of eyeglasses or spectacles of the nature required to suit the sight in accordance with the requirements shown by the test." More .2!!_ the headband support : "In 1797, Dudley Adams, son of George Adams, of London, received a royal patent from the English Government for a spectacle that 'would not hurt the nose or ears of the wearer'. The drawings show that the lenses were suspended from a flexible headband." So reported E.E. Shreiner of New York City in an article entitled "Blue Glass History" in the May 25, 1922, issue of the Optical Journal and Review, Vol. 49, No. 21, page 41. About early colored glass: The above cited article by Shreiner also includes some fascinating para­ graphs on the history of colored glass, several of which follow: Owing to the present widespread interest and the many inquiries con­ cerning the therapeutic value of ''blue" glass in the treatment and cure -8- of cataract cases, a few remarks in favor of this almost extinct color may be of general interest, especially when we recall that this is the 250th anniversary of the introduction of blue glass to the optical trade. The first authentic information of the use of any colored glass dates back to 1561 when Jarius Aucott, an English spectacle-maker, whose place of business was in Lisle St., County of Middlesex, made a public announcement, which is recorded as follows: "The construction and making of spectacles with green glass which I conceive are of Great Publick utility and benefit" (Ency. Londoniensis, II-I-1799). One hundred and eleven years later, in the year 1672, just 2 1/2 cen­ turies ago, Richard Pierson, who had a "spectacle shoppe" in Fleet St., London, sold spectacles with blue glasses, which were at that time considered quite superior to green glass. Mr. Pierson's shop was known by the sign of the "Acorn," it being the custom then and for many years later to designate all prominent business houses with some such sign or emblem. Jn 1767, almost a century after the appearance of blue glass, "gray" glass, now called smoke glass, came into use. Geo. Adams had an optical store at what is now 60 Fleet St., and his trade-mark was a globe. I can not say definitely when the word smoke was first used but up to 1839, in Philadelphia, Pa., the term gray glass was still in common use. Jn that year, James Peters, a manufacturer of gold and silver spectacles, on 4th St., that city advertised in McEltinge's Directory as follows: '~ite, Blue, Green and Gray glasses to suite all Eyes" Jn 1800, Sir John Herschel (1738-1822), the noted English astronomer, made 219 experiments with colored glass. His report to the Royal Society, published March 17, 1800 covers 265 pages. He states that 'Violet glass (blue violet) is peculiarly transparent to violet and ultra violet radia­ tions." Now as to something blue glass will do. Jn the year 1854, Robert Hunt, of England, magnetized a piece of steel for a compass needle, by pas$ing the sun's rays through a plano piece of blue glass and then through a convex lens. He experimented with other colors, but failed to get any results what­ ever. He considered the matter of so much importance that he submitted a paper on the subject to the Royal Society of London. Jn 1871, General A.J. Pleasanton, Philadelphia, Pa., startled the whole world by his blue glass theory. He demonstrated his claim that by the use of sun light, filtered through dark blue glass, both animal and vegetable life could be stimulated. He published a most interesting book "The Influence of ~ Blue Ray of ~ Sunlight in Developing Animal and Vegetable Life." The U.S. Government granted him a patent No. 119,272, September 26, 1871. His experiments extended from 1861 to 1876. Jn 1900. By the aid of Blue Violet glass smokeless powder can now be detected. No other colored glass will do this. l -9- For many years, a curious German custom prevailed, of cauterizing sores, particularly boils on the neck, by burning them with the sun's rays passing through a blue convex lens. There is no record of the use of other colored lenses for a like purpose. OPTOMETRY AND~ UNIVERSITY: A recently published book, Volume III of the Indiana University/Midwestern Pioneer series, by historian Thomas D. Clark, devotes several pages to the establishment of the optometry program, no mean accomplishment under the circumstances. The story is told from the objective but understanding point of view of a professor of history at another university who was commissioned by Indiana University to delve through its archives and write the University's history for all to read. The 678 page volume, entitled ''Years of Fulfillment" covers in fascinating detail the events, development, and personalities on the campus during the three decade period 1938-68. The establishment of the optometry program was, according· to Professor Clark's account, more than a mere political maneuver -- it was a clear man­ ifestation of the University's evolving mission and commitment to the State of Indiana. This book may well provide the only published interpretation of Optometry's entry into a university system from the academicians' point of view. It is published by the Indiana University Press 1977, at $19.50. ~Walter Fincham Collection: The Walter Fincham Collection was donated to The City University Library (London) from the estate of the late Walter H.A. Fincham who taught at North­ ampton Polytechnic from 1904 to 1950. Included in the collection are 15 tomes from the 19th century, 15 from the 18th, eight from the 17th, all related to vision, the eye, or optics, and one non-optical volume in Latin dated 1592. The collection has been inventoried by Librarian S.J. Teague in a 24 page catalog, a copy of which was sent to me by Professor Robert Fletcher of The City University Department of Optometry and Visual Science. Professor Fletcher quite incidentally included a letter informing me that the Department has recently moved into a much more adequate building, the Dame Alice Owen Building, very near Sadler's Wells Theatre. Opening celebrations will include a symposium on April 13 and 14, 1978. ~ books .2[ historical significance: Prompted by Dr. Leeds' list of historically relevant books in his own collection, in the October newsletter, one O.H.S. member called attention to four categorical omissions, as follows: -10- Directory of the American Optometric Association, First Edition, American Optometric Association, St. Louis, Missouri, 1972. Blue Book of Optometrists, Chicago, 1912; 1914; 1916 ••• Gregg, James R., The Story of Optometry, Ronald Press, New York, 1965. Gregg, James R., A History of the AOA, American Optometric Association, St. Louis, Missouri, 1972. Another optometrist memorialized: The H.B. Collins Research Medal (Australian Optometrical Association). The first recipient was Dr. H. Barry Collins of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, for whom the medal is named. Old books ~~investment: If you happen to have a rare book or manuscript in your possession you may wonder what its value is on the open market. An appraisal technique might be to compare it to old books and manuscripts being offered for sale by reputable bookdealers. Recently, Dr. William Baldwin, better known to approximately 100% of those who have ever met him as "Bill", sent me a list he received from The Printers' Devil, One Claremont Court, Arlington, Massachusetts 02174, specializing in med­ ical, scientific and sporting books. Here is the list, rearranged in order of price and without description of their physical condition. Henderson, Frank Laramore, Notes on the Eye, For the Use of Undergraduate Students, 2nd Edition, St. Louis, Mo., 1900 -------- $ 7.50 Arrington, George E., Jr., A History of Ophthalmology, N.Y., 1959- $ 7.50 Pooley, Thomas R., Three Cases of Foreign Bodies in the Eye, N.Y., 1875, pamphlet---------------------------------------------- $10.00 Luckiesh, M., Color and Its applications, N.Y., 2nd Edition, 1929- $12.50 Luckiesh, M., Visual Illusions, Their Causes, Characteristics and Applications, N.Y., 1922 ----------------------------------------- $12.50 Luckiesh, M., Ultraviolent Radiation, N.Y., 1922 ----------------- $12.50 Luckiesh, M., Light and Shade and Their Applications, N.Y.,l916 $12.50 Hartridge, Gustavus, The Refraction of the Eye, 6th Edition, Philadelphia, 1894------------------------------------------------ $12.50 Thorington, James, Refraction and How to Refract, 2nd edition, Philadelphia, 1902 ----------------------------------------------- $20.00 l -11- Phillips, R. (?) S. (?), Spectacles and Eyeglasses, 2nd edition revised, Philadelphia, 1895 ------------------------ $25.00 Williams, Henry W., A Practical Guide to the Study of the Diseases of the Eye, 2nd edition, Boston, 1867 ------------- $25.00 Noyes, Henry D., A Treatise on the Diseases of the Eye, N.Y., 1881 ------------------------------------------------- $30.00 Maddox, Ernest E., The Clinical Use of Prisms, Bristol, 1889-$35.00 Sichel, Jules, Spectacles: Their Uses and Abuses in Long and Short Sightedness, Translated by H.W. Williams, Boston, 1850, First edition in English ----------------------------- $40.00 Jefferies, B. Joy, Color-Blindness, Boston, 1879 ----------- $40.00 Williams, Henry W., The Diagnosis and Treatment of the Diseases of the Eye, Boston, 1882 --------------------------------- $50.00 Tiffany, Flavel B., Anomalies of Refraction and of the Muscles of the Eye, Kansas City, Missouri, 1894 -------------------- $50.00 Danders, F.C., An Essay on the Nature and the Consequences of Anomalies of Refraction, Revised and edited by Charles A. Oliver, Philadelphia, 1899 ----------------------------------------- $65.00 Sichel, Jules, Spectacles: Their Uses and Abuses in Long and Short Sightedness, Translated by H.W. Williams, Boston, 1850 (Inscribed by the translator) ------------------------------ $65.00 Mackenzie, William, A Practical Treatise on Diseases of the Eye, 3rd edition, London, 1840 ---------------------------- $75.00 Donders, F.C., On the Anomalies of Accommodation and Refraction of the Eye, 1st edition, London, 1864 --------------------- $100.00 Sichel, Jules, Traite de l'Ophthalmie, la Cataracte et l'Amaurose, 1st edition, Paris, 1837 ---------------------- $125.00 Himlay, Karl, Autograph Manuscript, n.d. (early 19th cen- tury) ----------------------------------------------------- $450.00 Dr. Baldwin also enclosed a copy of an announcement of the availability of "THE RARE FIRST EDITION OF (Robert) BOYLE'S EXPERIMENTAL HISTORY OF COLOURS" (London, 1664) from Bennett & Marshall, Rare Books and Manuscripts, 8214 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90046, at $1,500.00 (I am told that it was purchased for a few hundred dollars at a recent auction.) The title of Robert Boyle's book is "Experiments and Considerations touch­ ing Colors. First occasionally written, among some other essays, to a Friend; -12- and now suffer'd to. come abroad as The Beginning of An Experimental History of Colours." London: fot: Hent:y Herringman, 1664. It is listed as FIRST EDITION, number 57, in John Farquhar Fulton's bibliography, though quite authoritatively preceded-.by a preliminat:y tt:act -by Boyle entitled "The History of Colours Begun" dated 1663, a copy of which is yet to be located. The unlocated tract is listed as entry no. 56 in Fulton's bibliography. In case you have wondered how old books are priced, so have I.· · Just for fun, because I like to plot things, I plotted the above listed book prices on the logarithmic ordinate of a simple 4-cycle semilog graph and the dates of publication on the linear abscissa scale. The result is statistically a relatively straight line, suggesting that the sale value of an old book mul­ tiplies itself about 10 times every century. Winfield!· Brown, O.D., 1888-1976: Born May 12, 1888, Dr. Brown as recently as June 1969 expected "to live to at least 110" with ''my exercise bike continuing to keep me in trim." At that time he was working feverishly to gather and record the "History of Optometry in New Hampshire" and met with several of us that year at the AOA Congress in Philadelphia to help him pursue his objective. At that time he was retired from practice and lived in the Masonic Home in Manchester, New Hampshire, where he was very active in the home activities and ran the home's canteen until his death on August 21, 1976, at the age of 88 years. History of Maryland optometry: Maryland was the 32nd state to enact a registration law for optometrists, but not without considerable frustration and compromise. Israel Dvorine, O.D., describes some of the details in "The ea):'ly history of optometry in Maryland" in the December 1976 issue of the Journal of ~American Optometric Association, Vol. 47, No. 12, pp. 1558-1567. He derived some of his information from the 1904 and subsequent Baltimore telephone directories, ce~tainlyca candid technique for ascertaining the profession's ~ge of itself even .today. He briefly recounts organizational activities, legislative efforts, characteris­ tics of early practices, and bootstrap educational efforts. Early Philippine optometry: Seymour Kuntz, O.D. of San Diego, California, was written up in the April 1977 issue of the .Qg_ Newsletter, monthly :.publication of the Optometric Association of the Philippines, No. 107, 3-5, for nis~eontributions to the development of optometry in the Philippines, especially during the ''mopping up" phases of World War II. One of his contributions was the preparation of a 31 category test which could be employed by the Philippine Army to determine qualifications of enlisted medical personnel as optometrists. The test is included in the article. -13- Early optometry in Sweden: The 50th anniversary meeting of the· International Optometric and Optical League, the IOOL, in DUsseldorf, West Germany, last May, brought together not only the usual delegates from many countries around the globe but also several of the original organizers and supporters of the league, then named the International Optical League. Among them was Mr. Oscar Lange, Nordostpassagen 69, S-413 11 Gothenburg, (GBteborg), Sweden, who speaks and writes excellent English. When I asked him to reminisce a bit and put his thoughts in writing, he promptly did so, and here are his paragraphs. My father was born at Aabenraa, Denmark, in 1852. In that city he went to school and there he also had commercial training. Around 1870 he went to Gothenburg where he managed to get a post in the textile trade. A few years later my father obtained another employment as a representative for an optical wholesale firm in Hamburg, Germany, where he worked as a sales traveler in Sweden, Norway and Finland. Thus he got an excellent opportunity to make some sort of a market investigation, to use today's language, and he soon discovered that this area constituted virgin soil for an enterprising young man. After a few years' practice as a traveler he resigned his post and started a wholesale optical firm on his own. The capital required, very modest indeed, he borrowed from relations and friends at Aabenraa. At first my father employed just one young lady for a very small salary. His own income was meagre, to draw it mild. By a modern term, my father could be called a work addict, as a result of which his business soon flourished enabling him to expand. In 1889 he had made so much money that he could buy a house of his own suitably situated from a business point of view. I have been told that at the outset his sole aim was to run solely a wholesale business. However, as the largest retailers in Gothenburg refused to buy from him, he made up his mind to set up a retail shop of his own for the sale of optical commodities. This happened around 1890. The development of the shop followed the European system. Pure optometric activity did not yet exist. The working conditions of ophthalmic doctors of the old style were certainly most favourable indeed. What did the assortment of such a shop look like? First of all, of course spectacles with ready-cut lenses. No sort of individual testing of the customers' eyesight was made. Most people wanting spectacles needed them for reading. The procedure for determining the right sort of spectacles was probably the same in the U.S.A. as here. To begin with, the age of the customer was estimated! Then a testing frame was produced together with a reading chart. One started from No. 24. If this was not enough, one went on to No. 18, etc. After obtaining a tolerably good result ready­ made spectacles were shown. The frames were made of steel, nickel, aluminum, silver and 14 karat gold plaque. The three last-mentioned varieties were rarely asked for. A catalogue was made up. It contained an odd assortment, to say the least. Lenses, frames and of course spectacle cases of all sorts of materials such as cardboard, leather, wood, metals, -14- all in various designs. Also pocket lenses, reading glasses, stereoscopes with pictures, kaleidoscopes, microscopes, field glasses, and opera glasses. At the turn of the century field glasses and opera glasses were much in demand. All ladies whose eyesight was bad at loiig distance refused to wear spectacles. In order to be able to see properly in the theatre they used opera glasses. Needless to say, also- those whose eyesight was good used these glasses. Well, what more did this shop contain? - Lanterna Magica, children's toys ••• Then the other division carrying all sorts of instruments such as barometers, thermometers, measuring instruments, mathematical instruments, anemometers, weighing scales, chemical glass and chemical apparatus, photographical apparatus, several kinds of electrical articles. It was indeed a shop for sundries! Unfortunately my father died already in 1900. During this relatively short period of time he had had such a success that he could leave a remunerative business and a large fortune judging by the standard of the turn of the century. After my father's daath my mother took over the whole business. She was a most dutiful woman but had no turn for commerce. In 1911 she took a business partner, and thus the firm was carried on. In 1917 my mother sold her house. The business premises were moved and the business split up. The optical retail division was moved to premises with the most favourable situation in all Gothenburg. The wholesale and the remaining retail business to a rather small street. In other words, from now on one could speak of a purely optical shop. As for myself, I began to run around in my father's shop at three, being allowed to accompany my mother on her visits to the shop as I was her youngest. I just loved looking at all the wonderful objects exposed there and, of course, I was in everybody's way. I never lost interest in the business as I grew up. When I was in my early teens I learnt to cut lenses. After school I passed through the Zeiss Optical School at Jena, Germany. In 1924 I entered into my mother's firm. Already two years later I found that I wanted to stand on my own legs. I left the family firm and set up a shop of my own.. I was in luck. Premises were to let in the vicinity of the big hotels. I got marrie~, had a son who shared his father's interests. After a thorough professional training, both in Sweden and in Germany, my son entered into my firm and stayed there for quite a few years. He then followed his father's example and started on his own - this time a Lange shop was opened outside Gothenburg, in a small town half an hour's journey from this city. I am glad to say that my son ·has been doing very well taking a keen interest in the optical profession. He rather specializes in contact lenses. By the way, last year my son went to an optical congress in the U.S.A. - His children, one of whom is a boy, are often seen in his shop, especially on Saturdays ••• But to return to old times. In the year before I left my father's firm my mother passed away. · After her death the busin~ss was split up into two companies, one for retail ~d bne'for wholesale buiiness. The enterprises -15- started by my father and carried on by my mother are still well-known all over Sweden. And here ends the tale of the Lange optical firms. It is a fine profession and I still look back on my active years with nostalgia. In the name of Helen Keller: ----- Helen Keller International Incorporated, 22 West 17 Street, New York, New York, 10011, has been in operation since 1915. Its original programs for education and rehabilitation of the blind were augmented in 1972 with the new objective of eradicating preventable blindness. The agency, which is funded by private contributions and legacies, and more recently by government grants and international support, was aided in its earlier work by Helen Keller, who was a founder, Trustee, and staff member until her death in 1968. Recently the Helen Keller International gave its HKI award for outstanding contributions in the field of blindness to Henry R. Labouisse, Executive Director of the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF). First ocular fundus photography? A report in the March 23, 1904, issue of The Jewelers' Circular-Weekly, Vol. 48, No. 8, pages 77-78, credits the first successful photography of the human eye to Dr. Walther Thorner of the university clinic of the Royal Charity Hospital in Berlin, Germany. His apparatus was constructed by the firm of Schmidt & Haensch, of Berlin. The camera was first focused with the aid of the light of a petroleum lamp. Then by means of a switch a spark from a storage battery ignited a "flashlight mixture" which illuminated the fundus with sufficient momentary brightness to record the image on a photographic plate. Special care in developing was required to get excellent photography. Johannes Kepler (1571-1630): Johannes Kepler as astronomer, mathematician, and optician is the theme of an article entitled "Johannes· Kepler - Astronom, Mathematiker und Optiker" by Heinrich Fleck, an optometrist (Augenoptiker) in Aue, East Germany, published in the July-August 1977 issue of Augenoptik, Vol. 94, No. 4, pages 99-102. A.K. Banerjea (1895-1977): According to a recently received obituary received from the Indian Optometrical Society, 2nd floor, 7/1-C, Lindsay Street, Calcutta-16, India, Professor Banerjea was born in Dacca, now in Bangladesh, and educated in Scottish Church College, Calcutta, and at the Calcutta University where he attained the B.Sc. degree. Subsequently he studied visual optics and optometry in London and was -16- awarded the F.B.O.A. and F.S.M.C. diplomas in 1928. He returned to practice optometry in Calcutta. In 1932 in collaboration with several ophthalmologists he set up the Indian Optical Institute and Refraction Hospital to train "doctors, opticians, orthoptists, and other specialists." He was also the founding President of the Indian Optometrical Society and held that office until 1975. Two of his sons are practicing optometrists, one in Sweden. A century of optical manufacturing: The 100 year history of the Rodenstock firm, Die Optischen Werke G. Rodenstock, is described in an article entitled "Rodenstock unlimited" by Lilo Haasner in the September 15, 1977, issue of SUddeutsche Optikerzeitung, Volume 32, No. 9, pages 30-37. The well known German firm was founded in 1877 by Josef Rodenstock (1846-1932) in WUrzburg, about 150 miles (circa 250 kilometer) from the present site of the main plant in Munich. The account actually goes into some of Josef's optical activities prior to establishing the firm. The letter "G" in the company name was a sentimental tribute to his father Georg. The operation was transferred to Munich in 1885, partly for reason of Munich's reputation in optics, especially due to some of the persons in optical science there. The next generation of Rodenstock took on the management in 1905. The economic stresses of post-war Germany following World War I, the subsequent governmental direction of the firm under the Hitlerian Third Reich, and the destruction of the plant near the close of World War II made the Rodenstock history particularly dramatic. The perseverance of a family trait is presently manifested in Professor Dr. Rolf Rodenstock, great-grandson of Georg, who manages the now greatly expanded optical manufacturing firm with 6,000 employees. VARY THE TITLE? Dean John Levene, Past-President of OHS, wrote an expression of enjoyment concerning our October Newsletter and asked, "When does a newsletter become a journal? It would be nice." I do not know. However, inasmuch as "journal" etymologically means "diurnal", meaning "occurring daily", I find a lack of credibility in the title of "Journal" for a quarterly, a monthly, a fortnightly, or even a weekly. Further, ever since some librarian started publishing, a year or two or three ago, a periodical entitled Title Varies, any momentary thoughts I might have entertained to change the title of this publication have been completely suppressed. H.W. Hofstetter, Editor 1978-09-01-001 1978-09-01-002 1978-09-01-003 1978-09-01-004 1978-09-01-005 1978-09-01-006 1978-09-01-007 1978-09-01-008 1978-09-01-009 1978-09-01-010 1978-09-01-011 1978-09-01-012 1978-09-01-013 1978-09-01-014 1978-09-01-015 1978-09-01-016