Miners' Nystagmus Page: 5
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PREFACE.
The prevalence of occupational diseases among miners in the United
States is a matter of deep public concern, although it has received
little systematic study as yet. The Bureau of Mines is directed by
law to undertake investigations looking to the improvement of safety
and health conditions in mines and, in cooperation with the Bureau
of the Public Health Service, has done a limited amount of work in
a few metal-mining districts, chiefly with regard to the prevalence of
pulmonary tuberculosis and to the effects of rock dust, made by drill-
ing and blasting, as an exciting cause of diseases of the lungs.
In the absence of broad and detailed studies it is impossible to say
whether diseases common among European miners are prevalent in
the same relative proportions among miners in the United States. It
is to be presumed, however, that those diseases that are induced by
specific causes, such as the breathing of fine sharp particles of siliceous
rock or work under conditions that tend to strain excessively any
organ of the body, will be found to occur in the United States in pro-
portion as these causes are effective. In other words, it is to be
expected that, owing to the differences in natural conditions and in
mining methods, certain diseases will be found to be more prevalent
in one country or in one district than in another.
Miners' nystagmus seems to be widespread in Europe and to be
decidedly common in some districts there. As it may prevent a miner
from working at his regular task and may even cause prolonged total
disability, it is recognized in both England and Germany as properly
entitling the sufferer to compensation under the provisions of em-
ployers' liability or workmen's insurance laws.
Workmen's compensation laws have been enacted in more than
thirty of the States in the United States, and there is widespread
interest in the subject of occupational diseases. The Bureau of Mines
in its investigations of safety and health conditions in mines is giving
attention to the ailments to which miners are particularly subject as a
result of their daily work. The following paper on miners' nystagmus
has been prepared by Mr. Hoffman, who has given years of study to
the morbidity and accident rates of different occupations and is widely
known through his writings on occupational accidents and diseases.
As there has been no thorough investigation of miners' nystagmus
in the United States, Mr. Hoffman has reviewed the results of inves-
tigations in Europe and has drawn some tentative conclusions as to
the possible frequency of the disease in this country. Possibly some
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Hoffman, Frederick L. Miners' Nystagmus, report, 1916; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc12302/m1/5/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.