WOUNDS AND INJURIES

OF

THE EYE.

CHAPTER I.

THERE is no organ in which the reparative powers of nature are more remarkable, and the processes by which she works better displayed, than in the eye; whilst the delicacy and complexity of its structure, render important every injury to which it is liable.

Wounds of the eye are less painful than might be imagined from its high organization and the exquisite sensibility displayed when there is a particle of grit between the surface of the eye and the eyelid; this usual standard of comparison is deceptive; the organ has been endowed with such sensibility for its preservation, and acting in sympathy with it are the lids and the lachrymal apparatus, the effect of the whole being to keep the surface of the cornea clear by incessantly wiping away mucus and fine particles of dust, invisible to the sight, but not unfelt by the guardian nerve-fibrils of the eye. The cleansing of the eye by the act of winking is unconsciously performed, and is irresistible; the effort of the will can only restrain it for a short time. The eyelashes also play an important part in the protection of the eye; not only

do they assist in modifying the glare of light, but set as chevaux de frize before the eye and seated at the extremities of sensitive nerves, they give alarm if approached, and swift as thought they cause a movement of the eyes and eyelids before the offending body can touch the surface of the globe.

A remarkable example of this combined movement was afforded by a case of a penknife-wound, hereafter to be related, where the punctures in the lid and the eye corresponded so little, that had I not seen the case immediately after the accident I should have doubted the possibility of their having been inflicted by the same stroke; at the moment of the accident, the instinct of preservation caused the cornea to be thrown so powerfully upwards, that the lower part of the sclerotic was pierced by the knife which passed through the upper lid.

If, however, a particle sufficiently large or sharp to make itself felt eludes these safeguards and enters the eye, the tears are instantly poured out and deluge its surface, whilst a series of rapid spasmodic movements of the lids combine to hurry the intruder away. If, under such circumstances, the sufferer will only have resolution to abstain from rubbing the eye and will keep the lid quietly closed, the efforts of nature will most probably remove the particle, which might create an amount of discomfort out of all proportion to its dimensions.

Under certain conditions of paralysis the eye is deprived of the safeguard of its sensitive nerves. Soot and dust rest upon it, and lodge under the lids; the dulled sensibility of the conjunctiva fails to rouse the torpid lachrymal gland; the tears no longer flow, an accumulation of dirt excites inflammation; the vitality of the part being lowered, ulceration and destruction of the cornca follow, and thus the eye is lost.