The Story Cataracts are an opacity of the eye’s crystalline lens, found behind the pupil. This opacity stops rays of light from reaching the retina, causing blindness. The first recorded cataract surgeries occurred as early as 600 BCE. Couching, a process in which the cataractous crystalline lens is displaced inside the vitreous cavity of the … More Von Graefe’s Cataract Knife (From the Collection #32)