NEWSLE'ITER f\ U \?. '.:~ ?, \ <· ~) OF THE ~·'"'''· (243 North Lindbe~p=::;;d~I~~~s~'~ri 63141, U.S.A.) Vol 16 July, 1985 2 · •·. ,,.,,,,"·•··<,:, .-,,,, Nunber 3 J lndi~na u-.:._·~:\·::··. A;._<:c·;.[ ~:· ltl Vt:lSity : * -r. :~ ~: Annual call for nominations: ff AUG 1 6 i985 l The executive board member whose fiveh-:e!ibtCFf~ilh~ewire ai the end of this year is Maria Dablenont. The other ~g,®f.::;>tlf$~~ veJ board and the expiration dates of their five-year terms are as fo11(;l~T'"''d'erone J. Abrams - 1986, James P. Leeds - 1987, Patricia Carlsen - 1988, and Andrew F. Fischer - 1989. Nominations, or renominations, for the 1986-90 term are hereby requested for placerent on the b3.llot which will be sent out with the October issue of this Newsletter. Submissions should be sent to Da.lglas Penisten, Sdlool of Optonetry, BOO East Atwater, Bloomington, IN 47405. By all neans do not hesitate to include yoorself as a candidate if such responsibility interests you. Renenber, self-nominated volunteers founded the O.H.S., and unpaid volunteers have kept it going. Ordinarily, nerely the nane of the person you are nominating will suffice, especially if he or she is already well kncwn to o.H.s. rembers, rut if you feel that a brief "pitch" should be made in your nominee's behalf it will be rrost favorably considered for inclusion in the October issue of N.O.H.S. By-law changes approved: Seventy-six o.H.s. renbers responded by sending in the ballot included with the April Newsletter. Both of the prcposed o.H.s. by-law manges were approved by a vote of 73 to 1 with 2 abstentions. For the record, the two by-law changes are: 1) In Article III, Section 1, add ''Whenever the dues are paid in the nare of an agency, organization, or institution, a personal designee of the paying entity shall be identified as a remer of the society." 2) In Article III, Section 4, substitute "$10.00" for "$5.00." Grace Weiner (1907-1984): A beautiful and informative obituary of our past Exerntive Board renber, frequent contrirutor, and maker of nuch cptoretric history, the late Grace Weiner, was prepared by our present O.H.S. Vice President Patricia Carlson and published in the Spring 1985 issue of the Southern California College of Optoretry Alunnisccpe, page 17. 40 An itinerant oculist 1 s journal: Recently the Irdiana Historical Society received the journal and acca.mt ~ of Dr. J. A. Newton, oculist, for the period 1864-1881. Dr. Newton was an itinerant oculist who practiced along the Ohio River valley after the Civil War. His door-to-dcx:>r, tcwn-to-tcwn cirrui t included small tcwns like Madisonville, Nebo, and Ramsey in Kentucky, and Boonville, Evansville, Spring Station, and Folsumville in Indiana. He finally settled his practice in Boonville, Indiana. Dr. Newton 11Was probably typical of the Oc.'Ulists of the early nineteenth century. He undoubtedly had received some formal education in cphthalmlogy, if only an ag>renticeship, • • • .. He never mentioned an ophthalnoscq>e, or an internal Oc.'Ular problem, and he still used leeches to bleed patients. His advertised services as a 11Surgeon Oc.'Ulist 11 in his Boonville practice included 11ARl'IFICIAL EYES inserted withwt pain - corresponding with the natural in size, shape, and color - defying detection... Eyeglasses were not nvmtioned. His broadside advertisement stated 11Dr. NEWl'CN treats oothing rut diseases of the EYE... In his journal he had scribbled the addresses of manufacturers Who supplied artificial eyes, as well as references to lens grinders and opticians, rut he did not appear to dispense eyeglasses. It is unusual to fird the records of any type of itinerant practitioner, especially those of an oculist. The donor of this arChival treasure apparently ac:quired it at an auction in Boonville. 'llle acquisition was reported in the April, 1985 issue of Snakeroot Extract, No. 4, medical history newsletter of the Indiana Historical Soc1ety. Another ILAMD gift: OHS rent>er Dan Hummel reports cwning two pair of double lens spectacle frares sudh as those of President Jackson described on pages 4-5 of the January NOHS, and that these will be donated to the International Library, Archives, and Museum of Optomatry, Inc. IX>rothy Nickerson ( 1900-1985) : One of the mst gl~ing tributes to a visual scientist is the obituary and remrial acca.mt of the career-long contrirution of IX>rothy Nickerson to the science~of color. Beautifully and authoritatively written by c. Jares Bartleson and JOI Turner Luke it appeared sinultaneously in at least two serial publications, one, the June 1985 issue of Optics News, Vol. 11, No. 6, pp. 5, 7, and 8, and the other, the June 1985 issue of USNC-ciE Newsletter, No. 14, pp. 1-4. Her 11COlorful11 career began with enplOil'lent as a secretary and laboratory assistant at the Munsell Color Conpany in 1921 foll~ed by a research post in the u.s. Department of Agriculture from 1927 until retirerent, and a series of organizational involvements with the Coomdssion Internationale de 1 1 Eclairage, the Optical Society of America~ the Inter Society Color CCllncil, the 41 Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, and other color-related groups, with honors besta,..red on her from every direction. Anycne who has done even a few hoors of serioos study of color science or tedmology can hardly fail to have becorre aware of her narre. The accoont of her career is in truth a history of the develcprrent of color as we kna,..r it today. New light on Edison's light: This is the title of an article ~ Robert Friedel in the first issue of a new rragazine, American Heritage of Invention and Tedmology, Vol. 1, No. l, Sumner 1985, pages 22-27. The article is a new accoont of the inventor and his invention of the incandescent lamp. The author is an associate professor of history at the University of Maryland. He and Paul B. Israel are co-authoring Edison's Electric Light: Biography of an Invention, a bock to be published later this year by Rutgers University Press. The present article and book are basoo on searches through the voluminous Menlo Park records, ootebooks, drawings, letters, patents, and other docurrents which few scholars have attempted to explore. Most prior accoonts have been based on newspaper reports and the rorrantic recollections of old rren who knew the Wizard of J.l.1enlo Park. These gave two extrerre pictures of Edison's involverrent in pursuit of a successful electric incandescent light. One was that of the rough-and-ready inventor in a dogged hunt for the right filarrent. The other was of a scientific-laboratory chief who drew up the design and left the technical details to a skilled, educated staff. The na,..r evident facts are that the develcprrent was considerably rrore corrplex and involved than either of the long pcpular notions. Acconpanying the article is a full page artist's drawing on the cOV'er page of the New Year 's issue of Puck in 1880 heralding the arrival of Edison's lamp as an event of truly cosmic-significance ranking with a solar eclipse, the Northern Lights, the luminoos role of the noon, and the efforts of Father Time. From the Greeks to the Renaissance: This is the subtitle of "Perspective on Optics" by Jchn M. Hoods, Jr., in the March 1985 issue of Optics News, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 16-21. 'nle autoor points out that the greek philoscphers regarded cptics and vision as the sane thing, and that it was then, and continued to be, the central thread and bound natural philoscphy together. Interestingly he reminds us that lenses of varioos form, including glass globes filled with water for magnification and focussing the sun's rays, had been around for centuries, rut "the Greeks, ha,..rever, did rot include these prosaic rratters as key points of interest in their philosophies. These devices were simply representative of the skills of artisians - people who were held in la,..r regard by such as Aristotle. " The article leads us delightfully and understandingly through centuries of analytical struggle as to ha,..r we see and ha,..r lenses function. Featuroo on the front cover of this magazine is a picture of Christian Huygens, "a superb crafter of lenses, " aboot whom and whose forebears the article is concerned. 42 An oolitic tear-jerker: OHS :nenber Jim Leeds sent us another of the fascinating letters he receives so often in the nail, this one dated March 26, 1985, and signed by Mary Brougham of "M.T. Dairy Bottles, P.O. Box 373, Readfield, Maine 04355," as follads: We have two Eye Stones in the original drug store box. The box is 1 1/ 4" square and reads "Ham • s Drug Store, 24 Main Street., Li vernore Falls, ME. " and EYE STONE is writ ten in pen on the label. This store has been a family rosiness for over 100 years and is still in Livermore Falls. The eye stone was not used, I am told, after the turn of the century. the stone :neasures abcut 1/ 4" acrcss and was put urrler the lid near the nose and rolled to the outer edge to remove any foreign object. We are offering one eye stone and the box for $60.00 or the two stones and box for $75.00. If interested, please write to the above address or call us at 207-685-9544 and ask for Mary. If you wish to dleck on us before nailing check, cur Maine sales tax nurrber is 201688. Dr. Leeds forwarded the letter to us on April lst with the assurance that it was not an April Fool's joke. With it he recalled once examining the painful eye of a female patient with a Burton magnifying lamp and seeing What looked like a boolder pop out from under the eyelid when he applied a little pressure. It was a mustard seed which she had put under her lid to "draw out the pain." Early state board doings: Of slender spine with black lettering on a rich brown soft paper jacket, this 1930 book of just over 100 pages is· quite unooticeable on the book shelf. Entitled "A Manual of OPTCMETRIC JURISPRJDENCE and suggested uniform standards" it was copyrighted and published as a first edition by The International Association of Boards of Examiners in Optometry at a price of one dollar. Its only illustration is a full page group photograph of 22 of the nen attending the 1927 meeting of the "I .B. B." at Hotel Willard in Washington D.C., plus a lady identified merely as "The Reporter". Each of the "Drs." is identified by full name and state. The first sentence of the introduction by the editor, Dr. Laurence P. Folsom, states, "To all who have tried in diverse ways to hinder and prevent the progress of optonetry we owe much." Then ten varioosly authorOO. chapters provide statements of the aims and definitions of the professional; the history and role of the Association; cptometry's status in Canada; visual standards in schools, industry, aviation , and the highway; educational standards; the function of optonetry laws; a model optometry law; enforcenent; reciprocity; the "glazed goods" issue; state board examinations; relations with other state agencies; advice to state board secretaries and to newly appointed board :nembers; and a list of the 38 J.reiilber state l::oards and their 43 rrerrbers plus the rrenbers of the All Canada Advisory Board representing eight provincial licensing boards. The here reviewed ccpy was donated by OHS rrenber Jarres Leeds, O.D., to be forwarded to II.AMJ. Included with the book was a ccpy of a form letter from Dr. George J. Erskine, Secretary of the I.A.B.E.O., dated August 12, 1930, to its rrerrbers. In it he rrentions the then custorra.ry abbreviations of the Association's title to I.B.B. for "international board of boards," and describes its role as a "clearing house for the interchange of ideas between Boards." Two rulings adopted by the I-tissouri State Board in 1930 were cited as exarcples. One related to changing the examination subjects to conform to the I .B. B. syllarus. 'Ihe other was a recomrrendation that Board members include their abbreviated doctor titles as part of their signatures on official docurrents and certificates. Also, State Board secretaries were reminded to submit narres of all cptorretrists in their states who had "had their licenses revoked for unethical conduct of any kind or character' to be addei to the I .B. B. "Disqualified Practitioners File. " An incident in Churchill's life: Dean emeritus E.J. Fisher of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, writes as follows: "I was just doing sorre lighter reading recently and came acrcss the following which rra.y be of some interest for the OHS Newsletter. The source is a paperback book called "Churchill the Great - 'Ihe Best Stones." It was publishei by the Daily Mirror Newspapers in 1962 and printed by Fleetway Publications Ltd. , London. 'Ihe book contains a number of anecdotes about Churchill dating from his early days as a sdloolboy at Harrow, his time as a Boer War corresp:>rrlent, on through the World War, rep:>rting rra.ny of his escapades and quirks. One article follows verbatim." Saved - by his specs Scatterei at strategic p:>ints throughout Churchill's two homes, Chartwell, in Kent, and Hyde Park Gate, in London, you coold find enough pairs of spectacles to equip six men. Pairs for brc:Msing through the norning papers. Pairs for scanning in the evening papers. Pairs for card-playing. Pairs for speech-reading - and endless spare sets of lenses. Each pair woold be kept within easy readl so that Churchill was never at a less without his glasses in an emergency. But panic reignei the day he was due to deliver an inportant speech on election tour in the Midlands. Churchill's chauffeur driven car was speeiing north from London, with a p:>lice escort following. 44 The Old Man funbled for his case containing his reading specs - but it was enptyl His car squealed to a halt, and as the car behind screeched to a standstill, police tumbled from it and came rushing over. 11 I 've left my spectacles behind, and I need them for a speed1 at three fifteen p.m.," Churdlill apologized. 11Can I have them in tine? 11 They were nore than 30 miles from London -and there were barely 90 minutes to go before Churchill took to the platform. The police swung into action - and Churchill's car drove on to where cr~ds had begun to gather to hear the speedles. Patiently, the audience listened to the long winded introductions of the first speakers - unaware of the drama being played rut behind the scenes. Word had been whispered along the line of speakers on the platform that Winston Churchill needed a little tine before he was ready to rise and speak. Meanwhile, the police had rushed to a phone box, and located the speeeh-reading spectacles after a hurried search. A dispatch rider, with the specs in his bag, was eating up the miles at frantic speed to deliver them. At 3:14 p.m. there was still no sign of the rider, and anxioos officials, who had all been briefed to play their part when he arrived, were biting their nails. The suddenly,· there was a flurry of novenent in the wings. A small object was passed from hand to hand anong the line of speakers until it reamed Churchill. He snappej cpen his precioos spectacle case arrl before he began yet another fine speech, turned to one side and beaned his appreciation to the people who saved the day for him. 11This event occurred sonetine in the 1930's, and when one recalls the general probiems in comnunication, the way British roads were at that tine, the lines of traffic arourrl Lcndon, the irrportance of personal awearances at election rallies before TV, the tcp hat worn on the election hustings, the cane and the 911 cigars, and black rimmed glasses near the end of Churchill's nose, it is easy to inagine a lot of the drana of such an event ... 11Hcpe yoo are all keeping well and as busy as yoo want to be. We manage to fill up the days and seem to have :nore ahead than we can possibly handle. Working at further develcpnent of our museum, having just redone all the displays. Several visiting grcups have cone thrrugh, including the Rolls Royce OWners Club - Ug>er Canada Division. It looked inpressive to see a line-up of those cars, some of early vintage, arranged in oor parking lot1 11 The museum to which Dr. Fisher refers is the cptonetry collection on display at the University of Waterloo. 45 Swedish optoretry history: The 50th anniversary of the Sveriges legitimerade Optikers Riksforbund is featured in the Jubilee issue of its journal, Aktuell Optik och Optometri (May, 1985). Included are a history of the s.o.R. (pages 6-10), and the developrent of 50 years of education, (pages 24-25 & 28) both by Robert Sandor. Per s&ierberg gives a brief history of optometry in Sweden on page 9, and an accamt of the development of the Institute of Optometry, a very successful school for continuing optometric education fcunded in 1973, on pages 32-33, both in English. Also in English are three sh:::>rt historical mtes, one on Syninfornation (the Vision Infornation Cooncil) fourrled in 1967, (p.33), one on the optical museum established in 1939 (p. 36-37), and a third on the Saint Lucia Guild, an invitational homr society organized in 1939 (p. 37). On page 21 is a brief review of the meetings of the International Optical League meeting in Stockholm on September 9-10, 1933, at which representatives from France, Gernany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland were present. Anong other topics was a discussion of a universal title for their constituent practitioners of varioos designations. "Alnost every delegate preferred the title optometrist and this was the recommendation. " Stockholm museum feted: On the evening of May 8th, during the week of annual meetings of the International Optorretric and Optical League, the I .o.o.L. delegates and their accompanying personnel were guests of the Sveriges legitimerade Optikers Riksforbund (Swedish National Association of Registered Optometrists) in celebration of the s.o.R. 's 50th anniversary. The highlight of the event was a toor of the nuseum mentioned in the July 1975 issue of the N.O.H.S., Vol. 6, No. 3, page 45. The museum was inaugurated on October 16, 1939, by the Stockholm Associated Specialopticians in a building knc:wn as the boose of the leather-merchant Seyfridt, at 18-20 Stortorgat in the Old Tc:wn. The walls of the home date back to the middle ages, with other structural details and renovations dating to the 17th century. Credit for initiating the museum and its facilities for coorse work and receptions is given to two Stockholm opticians, Otto Ahlstrom and Albert "Abben" Lundqvist. One of the nany rare items is a gold lorgnette graphically reproduced in the S.O.R. logo shown belc:w 46 A replica of the lorgnette also is used at the nadir link of the synbolic chain worn as a neckpiece by the president of s.o.R. during official and ceremonial functions. In charge of the nuseum is optanetrist Barbre Lurrlqvist, whose address is Drottninggatan 29, 11151 Stockholm, SWeden. On blindness to the blind: Eleanor Gertrude BrONn did her Ph.D. research at Colunbia University on the cause and effects of the blimness of John Milton, 1608-1674. Her thesis was published by Colunbia University Press in 1934 and reprinted by Octagon ~s, Inc., New York, in 1968. There may also be a ItOre recent reprint. In her preface she wrote, "Blindness cane upon Milton in adult life (totally blioo in 1652, at age 44), rut it has been a part of my life as far back as I can renent>er. Yet for me, the meitOry of the red-gold of the sun, the blue of the sky, the green of the grass, and the light of the firefly is still vivid. In the interpretation of Milton's life and writings after the loss of sight, I add my k~ledge of blimness. " In her first Chapter she described grimly the state of medicine and hygiene in Milton's century. ''The apothecary was consulted in preference to the doctor. He supplied the drugs and the advice as to what drugs to use. Surgery was performed by barbers while doctors looked on. In view of superstitions, norbific IOOdes of living, and medical treatment, it is not surprising that Milton went blind." Pointing out that before the nineteenth century practically nothing was done to lift the blind from enforced helplessness, idleness, and ign:>rance, she added that " ••• only a few sightless men, in ancient and nodern times, ••• were held in reverence as prq:)hets, as soothsayers, or as minstrels, or because their deeds previrus to their loss of sight had given luster to their names. Honer and Tiresias, Isaac, Jacob, Samson, the Talnudist Rabbi Sheshet, and the 'father of the cabals' Isaac Sagi Nahor-ben David, Appius Claudius, Dandalo, and Ziska are aitOng the well-known blind Characters of history." Of special optonetric interest, and alnost the only relief from her description of the horrors of 17th century medical services, is a brief pa.ragraph on the meh earlier advent of spectacles and their increasing utilization, the cptical contrib.ltions of Roger Bacon and Johannes Kepler, and the c'hc}rtering of the Spectacle Makers' Guild of 1629. In other chapters the autb:>r reviewed the evidence relating to the cause of Milton's blindness and the sometimes alnnst ran:pant speculation of its etiology, including punishment by God, excessive reading, albinism, congenital sytililis, glaucoma, and myopic retinal detadlment. She had enlisted the cooperation of numerous of her well k~ American and English ophthalnnlogical contenporaries in the interpretation of synptoma.tic evidence, mJSt of whom believed glaucoma the mJSt likely culprit. Most of the book deals with Dr. Brown's interpretations of citations from Milton which can be related to his blindness and to its effects on his perceptions, concepts, and attitudes. He had written nnre prose and poetry 47 after his loss of sight than before. These included Sonnets XIX, XXII, and XXIII, Paradise Lost and three Defences, Samson Agonistes, Familiar Letters, and Psalms which he translated into verse in 1653, and nunerous panphlets. He had a reading knowledge of eight languages, and he dictated in ItDSt. Leaving no stone unturned, Dr. Brown even devoted a scientific chapter to the question of authenticity of existing Milton signatures. She concluded that 11the Milton autographs belonging to the period of blindness may be his. 11 Citations and references total over 300. Janes Leeds, o.D., who pronpted this review, has a 1934 edition of Brown's book in which the title is included in Braille. The Indiana University Library cq>y of the same edition does oot have this feature, so Dr. Leeds may indeed have a rare collectible in his possession. Either edition is a treasure to read, for in addition to its historical merits it provides revealing insight into a blind person's sense of values, sudl as, for exanple, 11 I 'krloN of no blind person who wruld prefer deafness, 11 and there are many rrore. There is a good possibility that yrur local comnunity library has a ccpy. More on progressive add lenses: Apparently a bit concerned that the rep:>rt on the history of progressive addition lenses which appeared on page 85 of the October 1984 issue of N.O.H.S. lacked conprehensiveness, OHS nenber Irving Bennett called it to the attent1on of Bernard Maitenez, President of Essilor International, Cr~teil Cedex, France, for CC>Il\nellt. The following is photocq:>ied directly from Mr. Maitenez 's response: In accordance with your request, my reply will concentrate on the history of the progressive lens. To begin, it is true that patents were filed before the first Varilux lens appeared in 1959. But none of these was exploited because the lenses made on the basis of these patents could not be manufactured or could not be used. The problem was one of obtain­ ing "a workable progressive lens", as you indicate, and the Varilux 1 was undeniably the first progressive lens to be cornmercialised. If we consider only the progressive lenses actually launched on the mar­ ket, events occurred in this order: 1956 - First Varilux 1 patented. 1959 - Beginning of commercialisation in France of Varilux 1, a mineral lens made progressive by surfacing. 1965 - Omnifocal released in the United States; it was distributed for only a short while because its manufacturing process left serious astigmatisms on the lens. 1968 - In France, the Zoom, a mineral lens obtained by depression methods is commercialised 'by Benoist-Berthiot. 1972 - First Varilux 2 patents filed. These lenses' principal originality lies in the aspherical surfaces for distance and near vision. 48 1973 - Commercialisation of the Varilux 2, a polished mineral lens, is begun in France. 1975 - Commercialisation of an organic Varilux 2 is begun in France. 1976 - The first Varilux 1 patents enter the public domain. From this point on, the American progressive lenses began to appear but were sold only in Europe. The first was the AO 7 or Ultavue 25. Its sales were very limited after a small initial success due to curiousity. The AO 7 was an organic lens. 19 78 - Younger commercialises the 10/30 as an organic lens. Its structure is even harder than that of the AO 7. The 10/30 is in fact a bifocal with a very short passage from near vision to distance vision surfaces .. 1979 - AO, faced with the AO 7's failure, commercialises the AO 40, or Ultravue 28 as an organic lens with a harder structure than that of the AO 7. The Varilux 2 had at that time been known and appreciated for 6 years but AO continued to believe that the solution lay in the largest possible distance and near vision spherical zones. 1979 - (Benoi~Berthiot and Guilbert-Routit had merged under the name BB-GR and become a subsidiary of Essilor.) Essilor brought its subsidiary the surfacing technique used. to make progressive lenses but the Varilux 2 patent~ remained its exclusive property. The NZ thus did not infringe upon Varilux 2 patent rights. 1980 - Univis commercialised the organic Unison lens. For the first time, American manufacturers began to develop a softer-structured lens though continuing to accept an astigmatism along the merid­ ian, A mineral version of the Unison was commercialised soon thereafter, 1980- Hattori commercialised the organic PI "regular". The lens structure continued to soften but because of the Varilux 2 patents, the surfaces for near vision and distance vision remained spherical, 1981 -Younger commercialised the CPS as an organic lens. The soften­ ing of surface structures continued, 1981 - Rodenstock commercialised the Progressiv R and AO the M3 or Truvision, both mineral lenses. Their lens structures were softer but the near vision and distance vision zones remained spherical. The Varilux 2 patents played a restrictive role. 1982 -A large number of progressive lenses continued to appear, among which were the Polycore progressive from Polycore and the Pl "mild" from Hattori, 1983 - Zeiss launches the Gradal HS in Germany. This chronology clearly shows that in a first stage, progressive lens manufacturers, with the exception of Essilor, were oriented towards lenses with hard structures. But, recognising the better acceptance of the Varilux 2, they chose at a second stage to try to develop softer lens structures. But softening of the structure must obey certain rules and in this the Varilux 2 is fundamentally different from the other progressive lenses. In the Varilux 2, the surface is determined on the basis of physiological laws that we have grouped under the name "visual fidelity". Proceeding by this method necessarily leads to development of aspherical surfaces in the near and distance zones . He refer to this as "optical modulation". Since the other manufacturers were prohibited from using this approach by the Varilux 2 patents, they were obliged to find surface polishing solutions based on physical or geometrical laws, which evidently have nothing to do with the physiological factors. 49 The Mundorff Mechanical Eye: Professor Walter Chase, O.D., of the Southern California College of Optonetry has published an appeal to readers of the Spring 1985 issue of the s.c.c.o. Alunnisccpe, page 25, for any infornation on the identity of a Mr. or Dr. Mundorff, the inventor, designer, or manufacturer of the "Mundorff Mechanical Eye, " which has been used for over 30 years in the visual science laboratory of the college as a teadhing aid. Should he receive any infornative responses, we will be apprised of the details. From Pepys' diary: An article about Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) of diary fane and his encounters with severe asthencpia, prCXJressive blindness, an cptonetrist, and an eye physician appears in the May 1985 issue of the Journal of the American Optonetric Association, Vol. 56, No. 5, pages 370-372. Entitled "The sore eyes of Samuel Pepys" it is autrored by Sidney Groffman, O.D., and includes about twenty eye-related excerpts from the diary ranging from January 19, 1664, to May 31, 1669. Four references are cited. A voice from South America: Noting that we lack O.H.S. nenbership in South America, Dr. D.G. Humnel of Ohio pronptly sent us a dheck for ten dollars for the gift nembership of his Bogota, Colonbia, friend Hernando Henao R., o.D., an Apollo awardee and well knOtm to nany of us. Dr. Henao should be able to contribute a bit of historical infornation on a personal basis as well, for not only was his father an cptonetrist but he himself has long been very active in professional optometric affairs. Early history of modern lighting: Should you ever have occasion to becone thoroughly inforned on the early history of artificial lighting, whether by electricity, gas, oil, or other illuminants, you could hardly do better than to avail ycurself of a ccpy of ''M::xiern Metrods of Artificial Illumination," a course in six parts in the 1909 Joornal of the Royal Society of Arts (wndon) by Leon Gaster, one ccpy of wh1cli nay be foond at the University of Illinois Library at Urbana--champaign. The series appeared in six successive weekly issues, Nos. 2959 to 2964, Vol. 57, August 6,13,20, and 27 and Septenber 3 and 10, pages 757-772, 775-778, 795-810, 815-837, 842-861, and 867-889, with 93 figures. The author originally had presented the articles as a course of fcur "Cantor Lectures" on February 15 and 22 and March 1 and 8, 1909. In the annual report of the Society it is stated that "Perhaps no ccurse ever given before the Society was so fully and elaborately illustrated. Mr. Gaster was able to secure typical exarrples of all of the various neth:>ds of lighting which he described, and in fact eadl lecture was a concen.trated exhibition of the best and JIOSt recent apparatus used for lighting by electricity, gas, and petroleum." 50 Reprints of the series were made available in pamphlet form at two shillings each. '!he lectures were extensively abstracted in the October 21, 1909 issue of Nature, No. 2086, Vol. 81, pages 500-503. By way of an amusing illustration of the phenorenal changes in lighting that had taken place in only a few prior decades the author rentions the experience of a friend who had the curiosity to look up the word "illumination" in an encyclopedia. He was rewarded by the cryptic reference, "Illumination - see fireworks." Mr. Gaster covers not only the design and tedmology of every type and brand of lighting invention but also their costs, efficiency, spectral quality, maneuverability, appearance, and their utilization in industry, home, office, highways, playgrounds, schools, libraries, and elsewhere. The Cantor Lectures originated in 1983 with a bequest by Dr. Cantor. There were several Cantor Courses every session, and each coorse consisted generally of from two to six evening lectures. The 1908-1909 session ranged from mid-November through the follcwing June with a total of 17 "Cantor Lectures, " of which Mr. Gaster's were four. Optics and social history: It is good to be occasionally reminded how scientific and technological advances have drastically altered everyday life and author Peter Mason has done just that. In his b>. There were three rrain questions to be tackled: 1) Was Haller's statement original? 2) To what extent did it change previoos conceptions of the iris? and 3) To what extent did it influence subsequent students of the subject? In order to answer these questions, I have studied all the specialized literature that I coold trace, written 50 years before and 50 years after Haller's statement. Thus, the original soorces I have studied are eighteenth-and early nineteenth-century anatomical and physiological l::xxi