Eye Business

If the ghost of a Florentine monk who died in 1317 had appeared in Chicago last week, it could have pointed a spectral finger at 59 men and one woman, members of the American Academy of Optometrists, and intoned: "Your means of livelihood you owe mostly to me." In a Vienna museum stands a statue of this medieval monk, with a pair of glasses in one hand and bearing this inscription: Here lies Salvina D'Armato degli Armati of Florence, the inventor of spectacles. May God forgive his sins.

In the U. S. eye business, optometrists occupy a position between oculists and opticians. Oculists, or ophthalmologists are full-fledged M.D.'s who have chosen to specialize in the treatment of eye disorders. It is their job to use drugs and surgery when necessary. They also prescribe glasses; in fact any physician may legally do so, though most nonspecialists do not. Optometrists do not need a medical degree, must be licensed, are not allowed to give medicinal or surgical treatment. They examine for refractive errors such as astigmatism, nearsightedness, farsightedness, prescribe lenses, generally fill their own prescriptions in a back room.

Of the ten U. S. schools which confer the degree of Doctor of Optometry, seven require three years of study; three (Ohio State, University of Southern California, Columbia) demand four years. Opticians are simply craftsmen who make lenses and mountings, or tradesmen who sell them, or both. For them no formal training is required, but they are unlikely to prosper if they lack skill and experience.

The U. S. has some 20,000 licensed optometrists. Of these less than 200 belong to the exclusive Academy, founded in 1919 by ten men. Election is by invitation and replacements are now made only when members die. The Academy prides itself on a membership more interested in science than in moneymaking. To be considered at all, a candidate must show two pieces of original research. At the Academy's convention last week, Optometrist Laurence P. Folsom of South Royalton, Vt., advised his colleagues that "the way to make money from the practice of optometry is to forget money." Dr. Folsom, who reads history, Emerson and the Abbe Dimnet, recommended that cash registers, show cases, "dealer-help" display cards and other such commercial paraphernalia be kept out of the patient's sight, that no clock be placed on the reception room wall for waiting patients to count the minutes by.

P: Contact lenses (TIME, Aug. 18, 1930) are thin glass shells which are fitted directly onto the eyeball, are almost invisible when in place. They are inconspicuous for actors and other vain persons, convenient for athletes. Since the curvature of the eye varies from one individual to another, a lucky fit is necessary for contact lenses to be worn for long periods without irritation. Hence although they have been known for 80 years, only about 3,000 have been successfully worn. For six years Dr. William Feinbloom, research fellow of Columbia University, labored on the problem of a lens made to fit any given eye perfectly. Last week he told how he solved it. Wax was molded roughly to the shape of the eye, to which it was then applied, left for ten minutes. Body heat and eye movements softened the wax until it conformed exactly to the eye curve. The eye was then irrigated with ice water to cool and set the wax, and with this mold as a model a contact lens with identical curvature was ground. Dr. Feinbloom demonstrated a fitting of his lens to a patient's eye. Of 112 people, 90% of them women, wearing Feinbloom lenses, none reports any discomfort. Cost: $100.

P: Dr. H. Riley Spitler of Eton, Ohio declared his belief that light of certain colors, relaxing or stimulating the optic nerves, may affect the entire nervous system. He recommended red for increasing blood pressure and curing dizziness, yellowish green or bluish green for stomach disorders, blue or violet for headaches.

P: Dr. Lewis H. Kraskin of Washington, D. C. reminded his colleagues that in some cases apparent disturbances of eyesight may be symptoms of hysteria. He mentioned a girl of 17 who complained of blurred vision, feared she was going blind. Examination showed that her eyes were excellent. It turned out that she was nursing a deep hatred for a man who visited her mother, that "the very sight of him" annoyed her so much as to produce an hysterical simulacrum of failing eyesight.

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