BOXING AND MEDICINE

The spectrum of medical opinion about boxing is broad and charged with emotion. At one end are those who deal with irreparable and sometimes fatal trauma, such as neurosurgeons and ophthalmologists almost all of whom denounce the sport as degrading with its primary objective the infliction of injury. At the other end are those involved in less serious possible consequences of the "manly art," who emphasize its character-building attributes and the opportunities it offers for fame and glory to young men in the less economically favored strata of our society.

In deliberations on the subject, objectivity is difficult to achieve. J. M. Doggart, a leading British ophthalmologist, has recently pointed out that "facultative Nelsonism" is common in discussions on the subject.¹ Nelson, at the battle of Copenhagen, was informed that his superior officer was signalling him to withdraw. Raising his telescope to his blind eye he replied that he