Philadelphia Bethsaidan

Of the men whose blindness Jesus cured, only one tells in the Bible the sensation of his new vision. He was the blind man of Bethsaida. Jesus "spit on his eyes, and put His hands upon him, [and] asked him if he saw ought." The blind man "looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking." (Mark 8:23-4.)

Mark was an accurate reporter, testified one Earl Musselman of Philadelphia last week. Earl Musselman's blind eyes were opened just in time to see this year's Easter bonnets. Aged 22, he had been blind since birth. His uncle, a Philadelphia optometrist with whom he lived, believed that the cataracts which caused the trouble might be removed. Dr. George Henry Moore, Philadelphia eye specialist, consented to perform the difficult, delicate operations.* Last week Earl Musselman removed the bandages and, like the Bethsaidan, saw things differently than he had imagined them.

In a mirror he saw "something like he thought a monkey looked." It was. of course, himself. He went into raptures over other people, ". . . the shape of their faces, the marvelous way they move."

In place of a speedy miracle, Earl Musselman must slowly accommodate himself to a three-dimensional, colored world. He cannot yet gauge distances by angles and shadows. Everything seems flat. He must touch objects to perceive their spacial relationship. By & by, as his pupils (they are artificial) and his cleansed lenses learn to accommodate, he will be able to focus sights normally.

Flowers were long fragrant shapes to him. Now he is fascinated by their tints. New sight gave him new ambition. He wants to be a traveling salesman so he can "see lots of the country."

*The King of Siam, now en route to the U. S., will have a similar operation performed after examination by Dr. William Holland Wilmer of Johns Hopkins.

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