I have performed 170,000 operations for cataract, almost all of them intracapsular extractions, and the method which I have followed throughout was devised by me shortly after I began ophthalmic surgery.
The controversy as to the use of the intracapsular or the extracapsular operation is always going on in all countries ; Indian surgeons as a whole, especially the ophthalmic surgeons in the Punjab, have always favored the intracapsular method, while in some localities the extracapsular operation is the rule, although some surgeons in Europe have adopted the intracapsular operation as a routine in their clinics.
The advantages of the intracapsular method may be presented as follows : (1) It does not require two operations; (2) the operation can be performed even when the cataract is not completely mature; (3) as there are no shreds of capsule or lens matter to be caught in the edges of the wound, the chances of