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Eye Magnets
We live, still, in the Iron Age. (Old Ages never die - I am writing this in a building made of stone, and many of the instruments in our collection are made of bronze or brass. That we also live in the Information Age is a bonus.) When we use steel tools to work iron in a machine shop, there are sharp little bits of iron flying through the air. Mostly they land on the workbench or the floor, and get swept up. Sometimes, one gets in somebody's eye. This is enormously painful, and trying to get the piece of iron out is more painful still. To remove iron from the eye without actually touching the eye, doctors use magnets. Small magnets, carefully used, can do the job. Large, powerful magnets can remove iron embedded more deeply in the eye. Today, with anesthesia and microsurgery, magnets are used less; but they can still do the simpler extractions with less fuss and expense.
This small permanent magnet is about eight inches long. It's less expensive, more portable, and less powerful than the giant magnet above. It can do many of the same jobs, but must be used with more skill and carefulness. |
| The Bakken A Library and Museum of Electricity in Life 3537 Zenith Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55416-4623, USA Join our E-Mail List Contact Us Tele: 612-926-3878 Fax: 612-927-7265 |
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The
large eye magnet at right was given to us by a local hospital. It was
made circa 1950, and taken out of service circa 1980. The base contains
a large, old-fashioned selenium rectifier which converts line-power AC
into DC for the magnet. The whole thing weighs hundreds of pounds, moves
on casters, and has many adjustments to bring the magnetic tip
close to the eye without touching it.