PERFORATING WOUNDS OF THE EYEBALL AND SYMPATHETIC INFLAMMATION.

Penetrating wounds of the eyeball constitute a fair share of ophthalmic practice. Where mechanical industries expose workmen to accidents, these injuries may represent nearly 5 per cent, of eye patients. Injuries of this kind are always so serious that the surgeon necessarily feels a grave responsibility until the healing is complete. Every penetrating wound is to be considered from three aspects, viz.: 1, the mechanical consequences; 2, the presence or absence of a foreign body, and 3, the question of infection. THE MECHANICAL CONSEQUENCES. Eye injuries are peculiar in their immediate results, for nowhere else in the body are so many separate tissues of distinctive individuality crowded into so small a space. A wound which perforates the cornea allows the aqueous humor to escape at once, whereby the anterior chamber becomes emptied. The edges of a small and linear wound will adhere sufficiently to allow a refilling within hours, or