Claud Alley Worth (1869–1936) was a British ophthalmologist, inventor of the

Worth 4 dot test The Worth Four Light Test, also known as the Worth's Four Dot test or W4LT, is a clinical test mainly used for assessing a patient's degree of binocular vision and binocular single vision. Binocular vision involves an image being projected by eac ...

and Worth's Ambyloscope, a pioneer in the orthoptic treatment of

squint Squinting is the action of looking at something with partially closed eyes. Squinting is most often practiced by people who suffer from refractive errors of the eye who either do not have or are not using their glasses. Squinting helps momentari ...

, a master mariner and an established author on the subjects of

ophthalmology Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a medic ...

and

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...

Early life

Claud Alley Worth was born in Holbeach, Lincolnshire in 1869, the son of Thomas Mordaunt Worth, scion of an ancient

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

family, and Frances Charlotte (née Alley). He was educated at Bedford Modern School, between 1884 and 1887, and St Bartholomew's Hospital. He qualified as MRCS and LRCP in 1893 and was elected FRCS in 1898.

Career

Worth began the study of

under Henry Power and Bowater Vernon at St Bartholomew's Hospital and in 1906 joined the staff of Moorfields. He was, for many years, ophthalmic surgeon to the West Ham Hospital in the

East End of London The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

. Worth gained fame in two diverse areas of specialisation: the management of childhood

and

amblyopia Amblyopia, also called lazy eye, is a disorder of sight in which the brain fails to fully process input from one eye and over time favors the other eye. It results in decreased vision in an eye that typically appears normal in other aspects. Amb ...

, and the sailing and navigation of small yachts. His inventiveness endures, as demonstrated by Worth's 4 dot test and later versions of his original

amblyoscope A haploscope is an optical device for presenting one image to one eye and another image to the other eye. The word derives from two Greek roots: ''haploieides'', single and ''skopeo'', to view. The word is often used interchangeably with stereoscop ...

. Worth's name and books were also familiar to sailors of small yachts. He was 'deeply knowledgeable about currents, harbours and all aspects of seamanship'. He was president of the

Little Ship Club The Little Ship Club is a yacht club in London. It was founded in 1926 by a group of yachtsmen for the purpose of providing training and lectures over the winter months. The club operates from its riverside clubhouse at Bell Wharf on the River ...

, Vice-Commodore of the Royal Cruising Club and a Master mariner.

Personal life

Worth married Janet Duncan Ritchie in Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire in 1906.England & Wales, Free BMD Marriage Index, 1837–1915 He died in Falmouth, Cornwall, on 24 June 1936 and was survived by his wife and a son.

Publications (selected)

*1939: ''Worth's Squint''; 7th ed. by F. Bernard Chavasse. Baillière & Co. *1950: ''Worth and Chavasse's Squint''; 8th ed. by T. Keith Lyle. Baillière, Tindall & Cox *1959: ''Worth and Chavasse's Squint''; 9th ed. by T. Keith Lyle and G. J. O. Bridgeman. Baillière, Tindall & Cox

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Worth, Claud Alley 1869 births 1936 deaths British ophthalmologists Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons People educated at Bedford Modern School People from Holbeach