Letter 3966

Paris Decemr ye 2d: 1732 N:S I should be quite asham’d to have been so long a time without writing to Dear Mr Hinde had not ye perpetuate dessluxion upon my eyes render’d it so wheasy to me that I now never thought attempt il but when forced by Business of necessity, I am att a loss how to account for this disorder to which I never in my life had ye least disposition, it came all att once upon me & notwithstanding all I have done it still subsists, & tho: I have sometimes been better yet I cannot say my Eyes have ever been quite well since they were first attached I am so little acquant’d with this disorder that I really am nor a judge of what is proper to be done in it but as I have allways heard that Sr. Hans Sloane was particularly famous in all cases of ye Eyes it would be doing me a great pleasure if you would be so good as to give him a fee & consult him upon this Head, the symptoms are that my Eyes are subject to be Blood shot that ye lids without being swell’d are wheasy & full of small veins which never appear’d in their natural situation, & when I wake in the morning seem to stick to ye balls of my Eyes & when I open them they feel as if they were turn as under from whence proceeds a sharp water which makes them seem raw with in, I do not perceive them Hotter than usual & ye sight less weak’d then one could Imagine in so long a time for it is now nine months that this disorder hath subsisted & is ye first time in my life that I ever had any thing of the kind I early discern that ye first cold greatly increases it & in that case my Eyes run a sharp water that makes them smart as if they had been cut with a razor they are not generally attend’d with any Itching & when they have run most I have allways observ’d that ye Humour never produced any Blisters where it fell which makes me all most sure that ye Humour is not ye same of that which hath so long perscented me find it rather that of a dessluxion because it falls alternatively on my teeth & that ye eyes are not both att a time equally affected, but sometimes one & sometimes ye other even in ye same day are differently distress’d I have been twice blister’d att ye beginning once between my shoulders without bennifit & once since upon ye back of my head, which I shall never venture to repeat for tho it lag on but 36 hours which was 12 less then when I apply’d it for my teeth in England yet it had a very diffirent effect which was that for ten days after I could hardly see any thing below me so that I am afraid of Blisters except I could be secure that those behind ye ears would not produce the same effect In a word I never found any thing relieve me but bleeding which I was once forced to try when ye pain & inflamation was very violent & attend’d with great shooting pains I never found that any thing cooling reliev’d me as rose & [planias?] water with powder of lusty & Caliminaris on ye contrary I thought it rather Increas’d ye complaint since which time I have made use of warm water with a few drops of Honey water in it to wash them & have often used ye Honey water alone to anoint ye Eyelids without finding any inconvenience from it & have thought it hath rather lessen’d a fullness in the vessells that adhere to ye nose which I have observ’d to have subsisted from ye beginning of ye [compl.ins] which together with another observation of my Eyes being always better towards night except that ye candles seems full of rages it all ye symptoms that I am able to describe & would beg Sr Hans Sloanes oppinion & diveetion of what I ought to do in this case being quite Ignorant of what is proper my self, I ought to make an excuse for having been so tedious in this relation but as it is too esential a point to be neglected I hope you will be so good as to forgive it as for ye rest of my complaints they are better or worse in proportion to ye weather which is att present very cold & consequently makes me suffer every way, I am also grown subject to [Chollaiss?] Heart burning & many disorders of ye stomach but notwithstanding am grown fatter & look better then in many years past, I should be glad to hear that yr state of Health was more favourable as also that Mr Hindes complains [text cut out] abated – I am glad yr young [Geat?] [text cut out] mises so much Health & strength & gives so much entertainment to ye whole Family, I cannot say that I ever could give into ye amusement of being able to divert my self with little Children but I have often envy’d those that found pleasure in them & therefore give Mrs Hinde Joy upon that occassion I beg my compliments to her & both Mr Hindes & am Dear Madam with perfect truth & esteem Yr very Humble Sert: M-Ferrens