FIFTEEN years have passed since we first used roentgen rays for the treatment of diseases of the eye.1 It would now seem advantageous to report on recent experiences with treatment, as well as to describe any late effects of such treatment on the cornea and lens of those eyes treated more than five years ago.
In a previous paper1 we discussed at some length the erroneous idea that roentgen radiation in therapeutic doses is dangerous to the eye. At that time an analysis of the clinical and experimental data for the first thirty years of the twentieth century led us to the following unescapable conclusions:
The eye accustomed to the acceptance of light is, as a whole, less sensitive to roentgen rays than is the skin, even when large doses are indiscriminately applied.
The cornea of the eye is less sensitive to roentgen rays than is