Did optoms of yore have wig-fire insurance, I wonder?
I ask cos I dusted off my candle-powered retinoscope – a gift from the Stoutes on my 40th – in case Eskom keeps wobbling and maybe even goes phut.
While re-honing (OK, honing) my candle-powered retinoscopy skills I saw that singed ear might be a complication. And then I wondered about the wigs the toffs wore back before the rinderpest. If one of those things caught light it would be more than a singed-ear problem. You might get a nice bright reflex for a while but then the blerrie patient might not sit so still and what good would that do?
You got to have the candle as near to their head as possible to get a good reflex and as near to you as possible for maximum brightness. So there’s a fine balance here. And if a shot of absinthe between patients is your norm, things could get interesting. So I think you would need a policy.
A wig insurance policy.
The book Manual of the Diseases of the Eye by C MacNamara FCU was published in 1876. It was given to me by my uncle Boet Swanepoel in Malmesbury.
Bewilderbeast Droppings 
We found it in one of the old boxes when moving D&L from the 4th floor in Field Street. I bet if Serge de Marigny was alive he would know more history, as well as be able to instruct you? Your 40th was just the other day if I recall!
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I so hope that the Stoutes see this! awesome….
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