The Hindu : National : `Serfoji took ophthalmic care of patients'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 30, 2005

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National

`Serfoji took ophthalmic care of patients'

Dr. S.S. Badrinath, Dr. Vasanthi Badrinath and Dr. J. Biswas of the Medical Research Foundation, Chennai, write:

This is with reference to the article, "Prince of Ophthalmology - King Serfoji II" by Dr. Savithri Preetha Nair published in The Hindu Sunday Magazine (January 2, 2005): we do not agree that our article contained "misconstrued facts."

Firstly, we believe that King Serfoji himself took ophthalmic care of the patients. We have found from a booklet, Raja Serfoji II, by S. Babaji Rajah Bhonsle Chattrapathy, Senior Prince, Thanjavur, page no. 10: "Serfoji took special care to treat eye ailments. It is said that [the] King himself was an expert in treating eye diseases and in performing cataract operation."

Secondly, we do not agree that Dr. John Mack was associated with the Dhanvantri Mahal. Modi records showed that an English ophthalmologist, Dr. McBean, was attached to the Dhanvantri Mahal. We also checked with Mr. P. Perumal, Conservator, Saraswathi Mahal Library, Thanjavur. The doctor who was attached with Dhanvantri Mahal was Dr. McBean, not Dr. Mack. We tried to look up the name of Dr. John Mack in the ledger of Madras Eye Infirmary, now Government Ophthalmic Hospital, Madras, but we are unable to find the name of Assistant Surgeon, Dr. John Mack, as mentioned by Dr. Preetha Nair.

King Serfoji was a member of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1823. However, as our article was focussed on the ophthalmic contribution of King Serfoji, we did not mention about his recognition at the Royal Asiatic Society. We have not come across any publication so far acknowledging the ophthalmic contribution of King Serfoji.

Our study was not solely based on the case-sheets, but also other available documents at the Saraswathi Mahal Library. To the best of our knowledge, the ophthalmic terminology cited by King Serfoji is one of the earliest ones to be found in medical records in India.

In our opinion, the drawings made in the case-sheets are of superb quality and almost like colour photographs and not `crude' as mentioned by Dr. Savithri Preetha Nair. Perhaps, the commentator would do well to indicate her references which were perhaps not available to us here in India.

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