Thothmes I was a king of Egypt of the XVIIIth dynasty. He reigned for about twenty-five years from about 1539 BC until 1514 BC. The first great Egyptian military commander, he invaded Nubia using river craft, fought a naval battle in mid-stream, and extended the Theban power to the 4th cataract. He conducted campaigns in Syria which resulted in obtaining large quantities of riches. He devoted himself to the embellishment of the Amen temple at Karnak. Research Thothmes I
Cataract is another name for a waterfall. In medicine, a cataract is a disease of the eye consisting in opacity of the lens which looks milky-white. Research Cataract
Couching was an old operation for a cataract, which consisted in passing a needle into the eye, and with it pushing the lens out of its place to leave the pupil of the eye clear. Research Couching
German measles (Rubella or Rose Measles) is a mild acute infection with a rose coloured rash which develops at the onset of the disease. There are enlarged tender glands in the neck and sometimes in the axillae and groins, and slight malaise. The disease is very infectious and spreads by direct contact. The quarantine period is twenty-one days, and the incubation period fourteen to twenty-one days. There may be headache and slight fever, and some inflammation and watering of the eyes. The rash breaks out first on the face, body or arms, and spreads downwards causing slight irritation; it then usually disappears after two days. The spots are small and separate and of a brighter pink than in measles. Complications in children very seldom develop. In pregnant women who have not had the disease an attack of German measles at about the 4th to 12th weeks of pregnancy may cause permanent defects in the baby. The possible defects are cataract, deafness, and heart imperfections. Formerly, certain doctors therefore considered that all girls should be allowed to have the illness in childhood when their blood will make preventive antibodies for life. Today it is standard practice to innoculate all girls around the time they reach puberty. It is a controversial point as to whether an abortion should be advised for women in early pregnancy who develop measles for the first time. Research German Measles
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Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Cataract
