Since rubber gloves have become popular in the operating rooms of many ophthalmic institutions, one is prompted to study the effect on the ocular tissues of the talc powder on these gloves. There has been a great deal of investigation along these lines, starting in 1933, when Antopol1 reported the formation of tubercles by spores of Lycopodium. At that time the spores of Lycopodium were used on surgical gloves, as talc is used today. However, even as far back as 1912, Lambert2 reported a foreign body giant cell reaction to spores of Lycopodium. He used the substance as a nonspecific foreign body and stated that he could just as well have used cotton fibers, or even glass.
In later years, when talc had largely replaced spores of Lycopodium, similar investigations were conducted by various workers with the express purpose of determining the effect that accidental introduction of talc