A practical essay on hemeralopia, or night-blindness, commonly called nyctalopia : as it affects seamen and others, in the East and West Indies, China, the Mediterranean, and all tropical climates ; in which a successful method of curing the disease is detailed / by Mr. R.W. Bampfield ... ; communicated by Dr. Roget.

  • Bampfield, R. W. (Robert William), -1827.
Date:
1812
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A practical essay on hemeralopia, or night-blindness, commonly called nyctalopia : as it affects seamen and others, in the East and West Indies, China, the Mediterranean, and all tropical climates ; in which a successful method of curing the disease is detailed / by Mr. R.W. Bampfield ... ; communicated by Dr. Roget. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    roasted, have been conveyed to the eyes by proper apparatus; their livers have been prescribed for diet; cataplasms, formed of slices of that viscus, have been applied over the eyelids at night, and the eyes have been anointed with the oil or fat obtained from it. The same practice has obtained in the West Indies. A strong testimony in favour of fumigations of bul¬ lock’s liver, is given by Monsieur Dupont, in acc Me- moire sur la goutte sereine nocturne epidemique ou nyctalopie,” wherein he states, thattwohundred and fifty soldiers were easily cured of it in the following mannerIn a new glazed earthen pot, boil half a pound of bullock’s liver, in four pints of water, until it is cooked enough for eating: when the steam arising from it is sufficiently cool, place the head close to the pot, surround it with a covering, and retain it there, with the eyes open, to receive the steam, until it no longer arises. One applica¬ tion in this manner is said to effect a permanent cure. Bontius bestows his testimony in favour of a fish’s liver : he, indeed, recommends cc sternuta¬ tories, masticatories, purging and bleeding: but the grand specific in this disorder, and a medicine of which I have often experienced the virtues, is the liver of the fish Lamia, eaten crude with salt. The Dutch name of this fish is ‘ Een Haye,’ and when exposed to the sun, there distils from it an 8