{"id":9440,"date":"2017-03-09T01:43:11","date_gmt":"2017-03-09T01:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/jane-austens-poor-sight-caused-by-arsenic\/"},"modified":"2017-03-09T01:43:11","modified_gmt":"2017-03-09T01:43:11","slug":"jane-austens-poor-sight-caused-by-arsenic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/jane-austens-poor-sight-caused-by-arsenic\/","title":{"rendered":"Jane Austen&#8217;s poor sight &#8217;caused by arsenic&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure>                                  <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Jane Austen&#039;s glasses\" src=\"http:\/\/ichef-1.bbci.co.uk\/news\/320\/cpsprodpb\/516B\/production\/_95034802_mediaitem95034799.jpg\"\/><figcaption>Image caption                                      The increasing strength of the lenses in Austen&#039;s glasses reveal clues about her deteriorating eyesight                              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"caps\">Author Jane Austen was virtually blind at the end of her life possibly as a result of arsenic poisoning, experts have revealed.<\/p>\n<p>Tests on three pairs of glasses held at the British Library showed the author&#039;s sight deteriorated considerably.<\/p>\n<p>At the time, heavy metals like arsenic were used in medicines that Austen, who had rheumatism, may have taken.<\/p>\n<p>Library experts have suggested such poisoning may also have contributed to her early death at the age of 41.<\/p>\n<p>The novelist, who lived in Steventon, Hampshire, died on 18 July 1817 and the cause of her death has been the subject of much speculation.<\/p>\n<p>The three pairs of glasses, kept in the Pride and Prejudice author&#039;s writing desk, were examined using a portable lens meter brought to the library to determine the strength of the lenses which, despite their age, remain in good condition.<\/p>\n<p>Tests showed they increased in strength from +1.75 in each eye from the first pair to +4.75 and +5.0 in the final pair - meaning she would have found it very difficult to see well enough to read or write by the time she died.<\/p>\n<p>British Library curator Sandra Tuppen said: &quot;There&#039;s the possibility of her being poisoned accidentally with a heavy metal such as arsenic. We know now that arsenic poisoning can cause cataracts.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Arsenic was often put into medication for other types of illness, potentially for rheumatism, which we know Jane Austen suffered from.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>It is not known whether the glasses, made of real tortoiseshell and glass, were prescribed for Austen or she bought them herself.<\/p>\n<p>The British Library is inviting optometrists to offer their opinions on the new theory.<\/p>\n<p><a rel='nofollow' href=http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-england-hampshire-39208356 target=\"_blank\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image caption The increasing strength of the lenses in Austen&#039;s glasses reveal clues about her deteriorating eyesight Author Jane Austen was virtually blind at the end of her life possibly<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9441,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9440\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}