A Remarkable Case of a Morbid Eye: By Mr. Edward Spry, Surgeon, at Plymouth, in Devonshire

December 15, half past 1, P. M. wind S. W. A to B, Cut all away by lightning. C, The mast sprung by ditto, into the heart. D, The lashing, forced by the shock off the Derrick's end, tho' the lashing round the mast was found and fast. E, The Derrick, (or Direct), out of which a piece from A to B was cut off by the lightning: round this piece were three or four iron hoops, as described, which were cut afunder. The Derrick was at least eighteen inches diameter. F, The chain-pump, split quite thro' by the lightning. I do not know what the gentleman means by this. The wind was W. S. W. the lightning came from due west. IV. A remarkable Case of a morbid Eye: By Mr. Edward Spry, Surgeon, at Plymouth, in Devonshire. Read Jan. 9. June 1751. MARY the wife of Thomas Smallridge, a mariner of Plymouth, complained to me of a violent pain in her left eye, and sometimes of very acute pains in the temple of the same side, with some defect in her sight. She also imagined that her eye was bigger than ordinary; but, upon inspection, it appeared no bigger than the other. The Cornea however became less transparent, and the pupil greatly dilated: but though the pain of her eye was so great, yet the blood-vessels of the conjunctive were no way enlarged, nor in the least redder than that and the sclerotic were before; and, from its whiteness, it appeared no more morbid than the other. As to the cure: After having bled her plentifully in the arm, I applied a blistering-plaister to her neck, and a gentle repellent collyrium to wash her eye often; purging her every third or fourth day, as her strength permitted, with a bolus of about eight grains of calomel, given night and morning, with a solutive draught, pursuing this method for a month or six weeks; in which time she was bled three times more; and cautiously observed my directions in her diet. But as this method proved of no effect, she consulted Doctor Martyne, an eminent physician of this town, who gave all the assistance he could, but with as little success, her pain increasing rather than diminishing; and as the pupil was now enlarged, and the cornea became more opake, with great inflammation of the conjunctive and sclerotica, and an apparent prominence of the whole eye, when everything hitherto failed, I tried two or three drastic purges; but these disagreeing very much, I was forced to return to my former method. I then cut a seton in her neck, which run very much; but all to no purpose, and she became still more miserable. The conjunctive became greatly inflamed, with an eversion of the upper lid, attended with great pain. I often made incisions with my lancet upon this coat, which bled plentifully, and gave her ease for a day or or two, and even took eight ounces of blood from the temporal artery. But the eye being greatly enlarged, and of so terrible an appearance, after all our endeavours for eight or ten months, I judged her disease to be a Carcinoma, and therefore proposed cutting out the whole eye as the only remedy. Several skilful surgeons were consulted, and it was agreed to defer the operation, and trust to nature; though she was in that miserable condition; but at length her eye becoming much greater, and her pain being increased, I resolved upon the operation, lest the bones of the orbit might become carious. Thus, having called in that eminent and famous physician Doctor Huxham, with some of the most skilful surgeons of this place, I performed the operation in the following manner; viz. The tumor was so very large, and the upper lid so distended, that I was obliged first to divide the orbicular muscle at the inner Canthus; and there began my incision round the upper part of the tumor, for the more convenient use of my knife. I had not cut deep when a great quantity of pus, like lymph, flow'd out upon me, with great force, like a fountain, and the tumor subsided a good deal: but pursuing the operation, I found a large cist, which filled the whole orbit behind the eye; and so part of the cist was left to flough off with the dressings. The whole eye being cut out, I filled the wound with lint, &c. and in three days I removed the dressings, together with a great quantity of sanies, which were daily renew'd and the part of the cist, which was left behind, flough'd off the second day. The cure went on with success, success, and, in a month from the operation, was completed; and she remains free from pain from that time to this. P.S. I must mention what seemed remarkable upon the case: when the woman was put to bed, we came to observe the state of the eye, which appear'd a little bigger than the other; and having cut through it, we found the humours very much confused: the aqueous humour was not so clear as usual, the crystalline less solid and transparent, and the vitreous almost reduced to a liquid state. The cist was very strong and elastic, and had a cavity large enough to contain a large hen's egg. V. A Supplement to the Account of a distempered Skin, published in the 424th Number of the Philosophical Transactions. By Mr. Henry Baker, F.R.S. Read Jan. 23, 1755. In the year 1731, a lad, fourteen years of age, was brought by his father from Euston-Hall, in Suffolk, and shewn to the Royal Society, on account of his having a cuticular disorder, of a different kind from any mentioned in the histories of diseases. The extraordinary case of this boy was drawn up by Mr. John Machin, at that time one of the Secretaries of the Royal Society, and was published in the Philosophical Transactions, No 42.