Correspondence between Mr. Syme and Mr. Bowman.

  • Syme, James, 1799-1870.
Date:
[1863]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Correspondence between Mr. Syme and Mr. Bowman. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    We have been requested to publish the following correspondence between Mr. Syme and Mr. Bowman. 5, Clifford Street, October 24th, 18C3. My dear Mr. Syme,—I fear your note in the British Medical Journal of this week is calculated to add se- riously to the numbers of the blind in this country, unless you modify the expression of your opinion. I hope you will accept my personal assurance as worth something, that iridectomy is the certain and the indis- pensable method of arresting the glaucomatous state. The facts are most positive and most numerous which prove this, and do not admit of doubt. It has, therefore, given me real pain to see your great authority marshalled against it; as it is quite evident from your letter itself, that by “ glaucoma”, you mean the last stage to which the disease has run, wlien recovery is utterly hopeless, and sight extinct; whereas the operation of iridectomy is, performed while it is in progress', and before the eye undergoes the destructive changes. These changes it arrests, and thus saves more or less sight, according to the stage the disease has reached; and according also to the variety or type of the disease, for there are several. All these have been so much elucidated within the last few years, that the indications for iridectomy have become very precise, and the results capable of being anticipated with as much certainty as can be done in any department of our uncertain art. Pray, therefore, in the interest of those who are be- coming blind through glaucomatous disease, relieve this inestimable (and, at present, the sole) remedy of the discredit which your high name must tend to throw upon it. Alwaj's believe me, Yours most sincerely, W. Bowman. 2, Rutland Street, Edinburgh, October 26th, 1863. My dear Mr. Bowman,—As my opinion of iridectomy was deliberately formed from a serious consideration of the anatomical, physiological, and pathological condi- tions in question, I am glad to learn that you agree with me in thinking this operation of no use for the remedy of confirmed glaucoma. But, with regard to its employ- ment as a preventive, or means of arresting the early symptoms, I would beg to suggest that in hands less respectable than your own, such an application might, and in all probability wotild, lead to the most unwar- rantable interference. Indeed, if this were to become the established practice, no elderly dark-eyed lady or gentleman who experienced dilficulty in reading small print after dinner, would be secure from the charge of incipient glaucoma, and be able either to deny the impu- tation, or reject the remedy. I had no desire to obtrude my opinion on the pro- fession ; but, when asked by the Editor of th* British Medical Journal to express my sentiments on a sub- ject of public discussion, did not feel at liberty to de- cline doing so. I remain, my dear Mr. Bowman, Yours truly, James Syme.