Report of the council of the British Medical Association on the efficient control of railway servants' eyesight.

Date:
[1892]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the council of the British Medical Association on the efficient control of railway servants' eyesight. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    tributiou to the litei’ature of this subject in its relation to many occupations, but especially the maritime and railway services.* * * § A paper by Dr. Moore and one by Dr. Fitzgerald, of Dublin, also deserve mention here.f In 1882, J and at the meet- ing of the Ophthalmological Section of the British Medical Association held at Liverpool in 1883,§ Dr. Brailey drew atten- tion to the tests of vision which should be applied to sailors. On this occasion Professoi' Snellen, of Utrecht, also contributed a paper, and after some discussion, a series of resolutions were passed calling for a thorough and scientilic examination of the eyesight of mariners as being a matter of international impor- tance. || Since 1886 the regulations of the Board of Trade as to sailors’ eyesight have been repeatedly criticised and condemned by many ophthalmic surgeons, notably by Mr. T. H. Bickerton,*[[ ot Liverpool. Up till 1887 the discussion had been almost confined to the medical journals, but iu that year some important commercial papers took up the subject.** In 1889 the Board of Trade appointed Dr. Edridge Green to advise them as to tests for imperfect colour sense. In August of the same year. Dr. Farquharson, M.P., asked a question in the House of Commons which elicited from Sir M. Hicks-Beach the information “ that the Board of Trade had referred the subject of Colour-Blindness among Seamen, to a Departmental Committee which would have scientific assistance in its inquiries into the matter.” On January 22nd, 1890, Mr. Brudenell Carter, F.R.C.S., read a paper on “ Colour-Blindness and Practical Vision Testing,’’ft at the Society of Arts, which led to a lengthy correspondence in The Times and other journals. Towards the close of 1889 the British Medical Association proposed forming a Sub-Committee of its “ Parliamentary Bills Committee ” to assi.st the authorities in the framing: of regula- tions, but the matter was not proceeded with when it became * “ Joum. of the Soc. of Arts,” 1881, pp. 817, 827, 837. t Moore (C. F.), “ Colour-Blindness in relation to Mercantile Marine, Eadways, and public Services,” “ Med. Press and Circ.,” Lond., 1887, N.S. XXIX, 537-9. Fitzgerald (C. E.), “ On a case of a remarkable deficiency of visual acuteness in a seaman,” “ Trans. Opli. Soc. U.K.,” Vol. II, 182-4. The papers by British and foreign writers on the colour sense and colour tests ■which have been published during the period of our survey are too numerous to be mentioned. A summary of the earlier literature will be found in Joy Jeffries’ work already quoted. X “ Trans. Oph. Soc. U.K.,” Vol. II, p. 184 el seq. § “ Brit. Med. Journ.,” Nov. 24, 1883. II “ Brit. Med. Journ.,” Aug. 18, 1883, p. 334. if “Colour-Blindness,” “Liverpool Med. Chir. Journ.,” July, 1886. “Colour-Blindness : Its present position in the Mercantile Marine Service,” “Brit. Med. Joum.,” 1887. “ Sailors and their Eyesight, including Colour- Blindness,” “ Brit. Med. Journ.,” 1888. “ Colour-Blindness and defective eyesight in officers and sailors of the Mercantile Marine,” “Brit. Med. Joum.,” 1890. “ Nature,” September 5, 1889, and October 22, 1891. ** Several articles and letters will be found in the “ Shipping Gazette and Lloyd’s List” (London), between Deecmber 24, 1887, and July 9, 1890. In the “Journal of Commerce” (Liverpool), from February 23, 1889, to March 18, 1890. The Liverpool Lailp I'osl also took up the cause. tt “Journ. of the Soc. of Arts,” January 24, 1890.