The X Rays and Blindness.
There have been many sensational reports published of late concerning Edison's experiments with blind men; and these reports have had the tendency to mislead and deceive the blind. On this the editor of the Electrical Review offers the following good sense:— “The sensational daily press has been printing page after page about how the blind may be made to see by means of the X ray and the fluoroscope. It is known that, where the lens of the eye is destroyed by disease or otherwise, it is a physical impossibility to transmit light sensations to the brain. All the talk about ‘stimulating the optic nerve’ to the extent of making the blind see is bosh. The function of the optic nerve is simply to carry to the brain the result of what is seen by the eye. It may be true that where the lens of the eye is intact, or practically so, but is obscured in some manner, as by a cataract, that the subject may be made to distinguish between light and darkness by means of the X ray and the fluoroscope. But if the vital element of the eye is wanting, nothing can restore the sight, and it is the acme of cruelty to hold out any false hope to persons so sadly afflicted.”