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snow-blindness
DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.
n.
a painful inflammation of the eyes caused by over-exposure to the glare of the sun on expanses of snow and ice and resulting in temporary blindness accompanied by gritty sensations under the eyelids, excessive watering, and, in early stages, double vision.
Quotations
1748
This Invention prevents Snow-Blindness, a very grievous and painful Distemper, occasioned by the Action of the Light, strongly reflected from the Snow upon the Eyes, more especially in the Spring, when the Sun is pretty high.
1811
Vallade ill of Snow Blindness.
1937
Snow-blindness is treated by flooding the eyes with smoke of burning heather, or sometimes by tying a louse to a thread and putting it in the eye to scratch the inflamed surface.
1965
By early March dark glasses must be worn to prevent snow-blindness.