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V90
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LOW FOR- STEEL HELMETS-

MEDICAIL JOURTNAL 825-

thirteen wveeks ex gralia from the date of their arrival in the United Kingdom,Jfurther benefit at the end of that period to. be subject to individual consideration; that the same conditions should apply to civilian members or members in H.M. Forces in the United Kingdom who might be- totally incapacitated by conditions due to the war, and to deferred policies (the period of deferment to begin from the date of arrival in the United Kingdom unless it was in the United Kingdom that --the incapacity arose). Dr. Martley added that this arrangement, which closely followed the one obtaining, in 1914-18, might have to be modified or even cancelled in the light of experience, but it was hoped to continue it.throughout the war. The chairman referred with regret to the resignation ofDr. Knowsley Sibley as director, after having served the Society in various capacities since 1892 ; also to the -death of Mr. Holton Sturges, auditor for nearly thirty-five years. Mr. 'Bertram Sutton was due-to retire in November last after forty years' service, but had consented to remain. A resolution was carried on the recommendation of the Board that no interim bonus be paid on with-profit policies for this year, but that bonuses be paid at the' same rate declared at the last valuation for the three years 1937-9 on all policies becoming claims during the year 1940.

be adopted immediately; otherwise we shall once more run the risk of being wise after the event. The visor consists.-essentially of a perforated sheet ofduralumin, 22. gaulge, moulded so as to fit the inner c.urvatures of the steel heimel, to which it is attached by rivets. A spring adjustment enables it- -to be. kept within the. helmet and facilitates easy lowering v.ben -this i-s reqtuired. lThe weight of the visor complete with adjustments is just on four-tenths of I lb. and the cost

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FIG 2

A VISOR FOR THE PREVENTION OF WAR BLINDNESS

BY

SIR RICHARD R. CRUISE, G.C.V.O., F.R.C.S. At the annual congress of the Ophthalmological Society in 1917 1 read a paper on the protection of the eyes in warfare in which I recommended the attachment of a visor to the steel helmet. As a result of intensive experiment during the past.months I have, with the aid, of thie. Fai-rey Aviation Company, invented the visor illustrated here. I have pointed out that fragmentation from explosives is the primary cau-se of war blindness, and in this war the volume of explosives, especially from aeroplane bombing, will be enormously increased. The majority of the ocular injuries in the last war were the result of quite small fragments penetrating the eye, and most of these

FIG 3

is small-compared with the co-st otf pensions for- blindness it is infinitesimal. I tested the visor by firing at it with a 1 2-bo're shotgun, and foun'd that there was no penetration of the vis'or at a distance o-f 30 yards; whereas 'the un-~ protected eye would be completely destroyed at even'twice the distance. I would point ntetrnmsinoih out that the. Ophthalmo-' concluision, an lIn muc work ha_endn So of the Unitedflgt,ads Kingdom passed a 'reso-lu-, logicalI ciety through hedn ~ FI ~ t etls2h ti'on at its 'meeting on April 25 this year n unanimo-usl-y'' recommending the adoption of the visor, and sent' th-e resolution to the Adm-iralty, the- War Office, and the Home Office.
'The report of the National Physical Laborator'y for 1939' (H.M. Stationery Office, 2s. 6d. net) appears in abbreviated form, but the work it records-is.as voluminous as ever. Aswith most other organizations, the Laboratory had its routinec sharply altered by the war, which called for a considerable expansion of the work done for the Services. But there has been no great falling off in the work done on behalf of industry, 'and no dispersal of the scientific staff has been permitted. Among the routine work has been the meaSuirement of radium against the. British radium ,standard ; 1 5 grammes of -radi'um was, measured in 1939, including some 12 grammes for the National Trust. The inspection, repair, storage, and distribution of about 400 needles and tuibes containing in all 2+ grammes of radium have also been underta'ken for the various national centres. Another piece of work h-as been the testing of three-quarters of a million clinical thermometers. A new field of enterprise for the Laboratory has been opened up by the introduction of the "black-out,'

FIG. I

were metallic. The injuries included punctured wounds, panophthalmitis, foreign bodies in the globe, lacerations of the cornea or sclercfic, prolapse of the iris, concussion injuries to the retina. It is my belief that well over half the cases of blindness in the last war could have been prevented by such a form of protection as the visor now invented. Between 1914 and 1918 approximately 2,000 were blinded in both eyes and 40,000 blinded in one. Apart from any other considerations it is surely fundamental that prevention should precede treatment, and that this protection against blindness should