I’m keeping an eye on you….
Jun 28th, 2013 by adharris
This post is part of an ongoing series featuring items from the newly acquired Santo Domingo collection.
Les borgnes de la guerre : prothèse chirurgicale & plastique (Valois et Rouveix) is a valuable contribution to military ophthalmology particularly regarding the physical reconstruction of visual organs that were damaged in wars. Written by Gaston Valois, who was a French physician this volume was published in Paris in 1918. The volume has many descriptions and illustrations of the various methods used when treating patients for injuries to the tissues of the face, eyelids, and orbital walls.
World War I greatly increased the demand for better medical care regarding eye injuries particularly for military personnel. For several countries this resulted in better coordination regarding surgical materials for those eye injuries. In particular the medicomilitary authorities in France of the Thirteenth Region created a space to study orbital injuries as well as to manufacture eye prosthetics for cosmetic improvement.
Valois also discusses the steps regarding ocular operations that were in vogue at the time.
To learn more about these medical procedures as well as ocular prosthesis check out the Countway Library at the Harvard Medical School.
Les borgnes de la guerre : prothèse chirurgicale & plastique (Valois et Rouveix) / par le Dr. G. Valois, membre de la Société d’Ophtalmogie de Paris ; planches hors texte dessinées par G. Reynard de la Société des Artistes Français. Paris : Masson et Cie., 1918. RE80 .V19 1918.
Thanks to Alison Harris, Santo Domingo Project Manager and Joan Thomas, Rare Book Cataloger for contributing this post.