How to Inflame Weak Eyes

"Hey, it's My Turn for the Glasses"

For many years, poor lighting and general lack of knowlege, led to an array of eye problems.  From early on spectacles could be purchased from the peddlar, who frequently visited the small communities with his store of manufactured goods; or from the local dry goods merchant. These were really just magnifiers, and the visually impaired would try several pairs before finding one that allowed him or her to see better.  In less affluent homes, often one pair of spectacles would be shared by several members of the family.

If you think that's strange, I'm reminded of a story told by a local denture therapist.  He had a young man come into his office with a broken denture but after taking the patient's  impression, he realized that the full upper did not match the shape of his mouth.  When he brought it to the man's attention, he was told that the teeth actually belonged to his mother, but that they took turns eating their meal. Egads!  Wrong on too many levels to get into.

But back to the eyes.  What the early settlers lacked in the understanding of optometry, they more than made up for in cures. For foreign objects, you would use a horse hair to remove it  or place two or three flax seeds under the eyelid, which produced tears. (you think?)  These tears combined with the seeds formed a glutinous substance that picked up the object and released it easily.  Early travellings were told to always carry a few seeds in their pockets. In the 1851 Ladies Dispensable Assistant; this was the remedy for Sore and Weak Eyes:  "Take white vitriol (a sulfate of copper, iron or zinc); one ounce; sugar of lead, one ounce; gunpowder, two ounces; put into a quart of lime water; let it settle 24 hours and it is then fit to use."     I think if I washed my eyes out with this conconction I'd take the gunpowder and blow my brains out, but not to worry.   The Peerless Cookbook, printed in Montreal; gave the following solution For Inflamed or Weak Eyes, no doubt brought on by the cure for Sore and Weak Eyes. "Half fill a bottle with common rock salt and the best of French Brandy till all but full.  Shake it; let to settle, and bathe the outside of the eye with a soft linen cloth on going to bed and occasionally through the day".   OK, so by now you're pretty much blind, but hopefully have had the foresight to save some of that "best French Brandy". In 1894, Light on Dark Corners, also offered this advice:

AN EXCELLENT EYE WASH -       Acetate of zinc, 20 grains. Acetate of morpia, 5 grains, Rose water, 4 ounces, Mix      FOR FILMS AND CATARACTS OF THE EYES -       Blood root pulverized, 1 ounce hog's lard, 3 ounces. Mix, simmer for 20 minutes, then strain; when cold put a little in the eyes twice or three times a day.

TREATMENT FOR FOREIGN BODY IN THE EYE - When any foreign body enters the eye, close it instantly, and keep it still until you have an opportunity to ask the assistance of someone; then have the upper lid folded over a pencil and the exposed surfaces closely searched; if the body be invisible, catch the everted lid by the lashes, and drawing it down over the lower lid, suddenly release it, and it will resume its natural position.  Unsuccessful in this attempt, you may be pretty well assured that the object has become lodged in the tissues, and will require the assistance of a skilled operator to remove it.

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