VIII. On the mydriasis produced by the local application of cocaine to the eye

In a paper on “Cocaine,” published in the “Practitioner” of January 1, 1885, and more fully in a paper on “The Cocainised Eye,” before the Ophthalmological Society on January 8th, 1885, I mentioned most of the clinical facts concerning the drug and its action that had then come under my own investigation and treatment. The object of this paper is to try and elucidate one of these facts, namely:—The cause of the mydriasis accompanying the application of cocaine to the eye. This research has been made chiefly on human and rabbits’ eyes by conjunctival instillation, and on rabbits’ eyes by experiments detailed below. The salt of cocaine used has been the hydrochlorate obtained from Merck, of Darmstadt; the strength of the solutions 2, 4, and 20 per cent., and these solutions have been used fresh to avoid any changes by the growth of fungi, &c.