Rare Books — #401 – 426
401 Ware, James, 1756-1815.
Remarks on the ophthalmy, psorophthalmy, and purulent eye. With methods of cure, considerably different from those commonly used; and cases annexed, in proof of their utility: also, the case of a gutta serena cured by electricity. The second edition, with additions. London: C. Dilly, 1787.
vii, [1], 156 p.; 21 cm. (8vo)
Ware studied under Jonathan Wathen (405, 406) and from 1777 to 1791 shared his London practice which specialized in the treatment of diseases of the eye. This book, the second and enlarged edition of Ware’s first published work, includes many cases which were attended by both the author and Wathen. Ware was the first “bare oculist” to be elected Fellow of the Royal Society of London, a distinction that greatly contributed to the recognition of ophthalmic surgery as a scientific endeavor.
Hirschberg §398.
401.1 Ware, James, 1756-1815.
Chirurgical observations relative to the epiphora, or watery eye, the scrophulous and intermittent ophthalmy, the extraction of the cataract, and the introduction of the male catheter. London: C. Dilly 1792.
vi, [2], 78 p., [1] folding plate; 21 cm. (8vo)
This work of Ware was republished in 1805 in his collected Chirurgical observations relative to the eye (2 v.), as the second part of volume 1. The whole collection was translated into German by Johann Runde and appeared in Göttingen in 1809 with an introduction and comments by Karl Himly (191).
Blake, p. 481; BM 253:62; Hirschberg §398; NUC 648:493.
402 Ware, James, 1756-1815.
An enquiry into the causes which have most commonly prevented success in the operation of extracting the cataract; with an account of the means by which they may either be avoided or rectified. To which are added, observations on the dissipation of the cataract, and on the cure of the gutta serena. Also, additional remarks on the epiphora; or, watery eye. The whole illustrated with a variety of cases. London: H. Murray and J. Walter for C. Dilly, 1795.
[2], vii, [1], 172 p.; 21 cm. (8vo)
“In the various departments of surgery . . . as well as in those of common life, it is of no small importance to be acquainted with the mistakes of others” (Pref., p. iii). With this in mind, Ware presents here a collection of observations on the reasons for the failure of cataract operations. These he attributes to six factors: from too small a corneal incision; from wounding the iris; from allowing a portion of the vitreous humor to escape; from incomplete extraction of the lens, leaving a part in the eye; from undue pressure after the operation; and from prematurely exposing the eye to too strong light. The three treatises on dissipation of cataract, gutta serena and epiphora had all been published by the author prior to their appearing here.
Blake, p. 481; Hirsch V:847; Hirschberg §398; James, p. 105.
403 Ware, James, 1756-1815.
Remarks on the fistula lachrymalis; with the description of an operation considerably different from that commonly used; and cases annexed in proof of its utility; to which are added, observations on haemorrhoids; and additional remarks on the ophthalmy. London: Murray and Highley . . . and J. Walter for C. Dilly, 1798.
[4], 86, [2], 30, [2], 33, [3] p., 2 plates; 21 cm. (8vo)
In order to simplify the opening of lacrimal obstructions, Ware proposed a new operation involving the introduction of a tube or style into the nasal duct. The treatment formerly employed, following the recommendations of Percivall Pott (305.1, 305.2) and Joseph Warner (404, p. 15-25), had been to open the cyst and dilate it with a sponge, passing a bougie or piece of catgut through the nasal duct, or even to create an artificial duct by puncturing the os unguis. In the final tract Ware defends the use of tinctura thebaica in the treatment of “ophthalmy.”
Blake, p. 481; Hirsch V:847; Hirschberg §398.
Ware, Lyman, 1841-1916, trans.
See Arlt (24).
404 Warner, Joseph, 1717-1801.
A description of the human eye, and its adjacent parts; together with their principal diseases, and the methods proposed for relieving them. London: L. Davis, 1773.
xiv, [2], 109 p., 2 plates; 21 cm. (8vo)
This was perhaps the first useful textbook based on practical knowledge composed by an English writer. It was highly regarded by such contemporaries as Beer (37-40) and Richter (313), despite its rather small anatomical content.
Hirschberg §394.
405 Wathen, Jonathan, 1729-1808.
A dissertation on the theory and cure of the cataract: in which the practice of extraction is supported; and that operation, in its present improved state, is particularly described. London: T. Cadell and C. Dilly, 1785.
[8], 166 p.; 23 cm. (8vo)
“Wathen describes the symptoms and signs and insists on the impossibility of curing cataract by medical means. He lays down excellent rules for the diagnosis of the condition, and as to whether the case is ready for operation. He deprecates the practice of operating in cases of uni-ocular cataract. He describes the old operation of couching and then that of extraction . . .” (James, p. 114).
Hirschberg §397; James, p. 114.
406 Wathen, Jonathan, 1729-1808.
A new and easy method of curing the fistula lacrymalis: the second edition, with considerable improvements. To which is added, a dissertation on the epiphora vera; or, true watery eye: and the zeropthalmia; or, dry eye. Also, an appendix on the treatment of patients after the operation for the cataract: in which are shewn the evils attendant on long confinement and continued bandages: and an opposite practice recommended. Illustrated with cases. London: Phipps. C. Dilly, 1792.
[4], xi, [1], 104 p., [1] plate; 21 cm. (8vo)
The author’s “new method,” announced in the first edition of this work published in 1781, consisted of “inserting a tube, and leaving it in the natural passage.” This method was advanced as an alternative to Heister’s practice of perforating the os lacrimale. The work is dedicated to John Hunter.
Hirschberg §397.
407 Watson, Alexander, 1799-1879.
Anatomical description of the human eye. Edinburgh: A. Balfour & Co. for Maclachlan and Stewart, 1828.
[2], 16 p., [1] plate; 24 cm.
The author, a distinguished Scottish ophthalmologist and authority on legal medicine, known later as Watson-Wemyss after inheriting an estate in Fife, was the author of the first compendium of ophthalmology in the English language, published in 1822. This brief work was probably written to serve as a guide to students in obtaining an understanding of the relative position of the constituent parts of the eye. The diagram of the vertical section of the eye and the accompanying description are from Soemmerring’s atlas (348, 349).
Hirschberg §699.
Watson, Sir William, 1715-1787.
See Mead (254).
Weber, Christoph Theophil, respondent.
“De palpebrarum tumoribus cysticis casuque speciali magni tumoris steatomatico-scirrhosi e palpebra superiore et orbita feliciter nuperrime extirpati.”
In Dissertationes medicae selectae Tubingenses (112) 1:283-312.
Webster, Warren, 1835-1896, trans.
See Mauthner (252).
408 Wecker, Louis de, 1832-1906.
Thérapeutique oculaire. . . . Leçons recueillies et rédigées par le Dr. Masselon. Paris: Octave Doin, 1878-79.
2 v. ([4], 388; [4], [389]-803 p.): ill.; 24 cm.
Wecker made several monumental contributions to ophthalmic literature—among them this work—which alone would have secured his reputation as one of the great ophthalmologists of the second half of the nineteenth century. His writings are noted as masterpieces of both scientific accuracy and literary style.
Wecker’s medical studies took him to Würzburg (M.D., 1855), Vienna, Berlin and Paris (2nd M.D., 1861), where he studied under such figures as Arlt (20-24), Jaeger (202-207), von Graefe (160, 161), Sichel and Desmarres (102, 103). Like Meyer (258) and Sichel (340, 340.1), Wecker was one of those Germans who elected to live and work in Paris. He made many contributions to the progress of ophthalmology, among them his introduction of the ophthalmoscope into France. Wecker invented several ingenious surgical instruments and operative techniques, such as sclerotomy as a cure for glaucoma and his method of tatooing the cornea (vol. 1, p. 207).
Fischer II: 1650; Hirschberg §1264.
408.1 Wecker, Louis de, 1832-1906.
Traité complet d’ophthalmologie par L. de Wecker et E. Landolt. Anatomie microscopique par les professeurs J. Arnold, A. Iwanoff, G. Schwalbe et W. Waldeyer. Paris: V. A. Delahaye & Co.; A. Delahaye & É. Lecrosnier; Lecrosnier & Babé, 1880-89.
4 v.: ill.; 24 cm.
Library’s copy lacks volume 4.
Provenance: Lane Medical Library, Stanford University (bookplate, stamps).
A monumental treatise by Wecker and E. Landolt (228) regarded—along with the Graefe-Saemisch Handbuch—as one of the best ophthalmologic handbooks of the nineteenth century. “Cet ouvrage remplacé la troisième édition du Traité de Wecker (prix Châteauvillard)” (title page). The first edition—yet without Landolt’s part—was published under the title Études ophthalmologiques (Paris, 1863-66), while the second had the title: Traité théoretique et pratique des maladies des yeux (Paris, 1867-68).
BM 254:446 (imprint dates: 1878-89); Fischer II:1650 (imprint dates: 1878-89); G-M 5919; Gorin p. 189, 190; Hirschberg §1264 (imprint dates: 1878-89); NUC 652:692.
409 Wedl, Carl, 1815-1891.
Atlas der pathologischen Histologie des Auges. Unter Mitwirkung des Herrn Prof. Dr. C. Stellwag von Carion herausgegeben von Prof. Dr. C. Wedl. Leipzig: Georg Wigand, 1860-61.
4 pts. (xiv p., V plates; V plates; V plates; IX plates); 33 cm.
“Das Werk ist Rokitansky gewidmet und sollte die hervorstechendsten Merkmale der pathologischen Processe des Auges in Bild und Wort vorführen. Die in lateinischer Sprache gegebenen Diagnosen sind von Stellwag berichtigt worden. Der Atlas ist zum Studium insbesondere für Augenärzte bestimmt. Viele Objekte wurden in Lupen-Vergrosserung gezeichnet, zur Aufbewahrung Weingeist bevorzugt, zu Schnitten auch ein Mikrotom und Eintauchen der Objekte in Leim-Lösung angewendet, die Zeichnung von Dr. C[arl] Heitzmann [1836-1894] ausgeführt” (Hirschberg §1180).
Stellwag von Carion in his Lehrbuch (352) called this atlas “a rich mine of unadorned facts, which has often been widely used by others, but which is apt to be seldom cited.” Each plate is accompanied by a leaf of descriptive letterpress.
Hirsch V:877; Hirschberg §1180.
Wedl, Carl, 1815-1891.
See also Stellwag von Carion (356).
410 Weigel, Carolus Heinricus Bernhard, defendant.
Dissertatio inauguralis sistens experimenta chemica et instrumenta chirurgica emendata . . . praeside Christ. Ehrenfried Weigel. Greifswald: A. F. Rose, 1785.
[6], 50 p., 1 plate; 19 cm. (4to)
Defended at the University of Greifswald, this dissertation is divided into two parts. Of interest here is the second part, describing surgical instruments devised or improved by the author, nearly all of them for use in operations of the eye. Several of these are illustrated on the folding copperplate engraving, cut after the author’s own drawings.
410.1 Weinhold, Carl August, 1782-1829.
Anleitung den verdunkelten Krystallkörper im Auge des Menschen, sammt seiner Kapsel umzulegen. Ein ophthalmiatrischer Versuch zur Vervollkommung der Depressions des grauen Staares und der künstlichen Pupillenbildung. Zweite mit Zusätzen vermehrte Ausgabe. . . . Meissen: F. W. Goedsche, 1812.
xxxiv, 111, [1] p., [2] plates; 18 cm. (8vo)
A treatise on an improved method of cataract operation with the aid of a new instrument invented by Weinhold. The instrument, a combination of a pair of scissors and a cataract needle, was used as a cutting device “in order to form a new pupil, to separate the lens capsule from the uvea and from the scars of an aftercataract” (Hirschberg §499). The book (first published in 1809) contains two copper plates delineating the device; the second plate is hand-colored.
An accomplished physiologist and surgeon, Weinhold first practiced in Meissen and then was director of the clinic in Tartu, Estonia. In 1814 he became professor of pharmacology at the Medical-Surgical College of Dresden and in 1817, the director of the surgical and ophthalmological clinic in Halle. In cataract operation, Weinhold originally performed extraction exclusively, later he practiced extraction and couching with equally good results. Ultimately, he claimed that couching could completely replace extraction (cf. Hirschberg §499).
Hirschberg §499; NUC 654:121.
410.2 Weiss, Ludwig Samuel, 1804-1838?
Die Augenheilkunde und die Lehre der wichtigsten Augenoperationen: nach den Erfahrungen Jüngken’s, Beer’s, Himly’s, Scarpa’s und anderer berühmten Augenärzte, sowie nach eigenen Beobachtungen in gedrängter Kürze dargestellt. Zweite Auflage. Quedlinburg; Leipzig: Gottfr. Basse, 1844.
vi, [2], 251, [1] p.; 20 cm.
NUC 654:444.
Welbank, Richard, ed.
See Frick (142).
411 Weller, Carl Heinrich, 1794-1854.
Die Krankheiten des menschlichen Auges, ein Handbuch für angehende Aerzte. Nach den besten in- und ausländischen Werken, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Beer’schen Erfahrungen, bearbeitet und durch eigene Beobachtungen vermehrt. Zweite verbesserte und vermehrte Auflage. Berlin: J. F. Starcke for Schüppel, 1822.
x, 413, [1] p., 5 plates; 22 cm.
The second edition of a useful and popular handbook of ophthalmology which was frequently re-issued and was translated into Russian and French. Weller’s work was the standard text in the period between Scarpa (327, 328) and Mackenzie (241).
Hirschberg §524.
412 Weller, Carl Heinrich, 1794-1854.
Traité théorique et pratique des maladies des yeux . . . traduit de l’allemand sur la dernière édition, par F. J. Riester; augmenté de notes, par L. Jallat. Paris: Germer-Baillière, 1832.
2 v. ([4], vii, [1], 396 p.; [4], iii, [1], 320 p., 6 plates); 22 cm.
The second French edition of this authoritative handbook, translated from the third German edition (1826), is introduced by a full bibliography extending to thirty-four pages. Weller played an important part in the developing understanding of glaucoma and the attending increase in intraocular pressure. In 1826 he wrote of the hardness of the eye, not only in the established condition but also in the developing condition, combining the descriptions of Beer and Demours.
Hirschberg §524.
413 Wells, John Soelberg, 1834-1879.
A treatise on the diseases of the eye. . . . Fourth American from the third English edition, with copious additions. By Charles Stedman Bull. Philadelphia: Henry C. Lea’s Son & Co., 1883.
xix, [1], [33]-846 p., VI plates: ill.; 24 cm.
The fourth and final American edition of what is often regarded as the best work on the diseases of the eye then extant in the English language. “The want has often been expressed,” Wells wrote in the preface to the first London edition of 1869, “of an English treatise on the diseases of the eye, which should embrace the modern doctrines and practice of the British and foreign schools of ophthalmology.” The present work more than fulfilled that need, inaugurating a new era in English ophthalmic literature. Copiously illustrated with 257 wood-engravings and six chromolithographs after Liebreich, it has been called by Hirschberg “vielleicht der beste Lehrbuch der Reform-Zeit bis zu Tagen der Encyklopädie von Graefe-Saemisch” (§650).
Hirsch V:894, Hirschberg §650.
414 Wells, William Charles, 1757-1817.
Two essays: one upon single vision with two eyes; the other on dew. A letter to the Right Hon. Lloyd, Lord Kenyon and an account of a female of the white race of mankind, part of whose skin resembles that of a negro; with some observations on the causes of the differences in colour and form between the white and negro races of men. . . . With a memoir of [the author’s] life, written by himself. London: T. Davison for A. Constable & Co. (Edinburgh) and Longmans (London), 1818.
lxxiv, [2], 439, [1] p.; 22 cm. (8vo)
In his “Essay upon single vision with two eyes” originally published in 1792, Wells presents a new theory of binocular vision based on the concept of visible direction and experimental evidence on the duration of impressions on the retina. Wells’s theory of visible direction had a great influence on the science of spectacle making in the early part of the nineteenth century. An analysis of this essay by R. R. James appeared in the British Journal of Ophthalmology 12:[561]-569 (1928). The author’s other works reprinted in this first and only collected edition are of significance in the fields of meteorology, ventilation, and evolution.
Hirschberg §746; Osler 4210.
415 Wenzel, Jakob, d. 1810.
Traité de la cataracte, avec des observations qui prouvent la nécessité d’inciser la cornée transparente & la capsule du crystallin, d’une manière diverse, selon les differentes espèces de cataractes. Paris: Lottin for P. J. Duplain, 1786.
xii, 224, [2] p., [1] plate; 20 cm. (8vo)
A treatise on cataract by the son of Baron Michael de Wenzel, one of the most famous ophthalmic surgeons of the late eighteenth century. In the present work the younger Wenzel describes his father’s methods of operating for cataract and for creating an artificial pupil. Numerous case histories provide a glimpse of the elder Wenzel’s practice.
Hirschberg §355.
416 Wenzel, Jakob, d. 1810.
Manuel de l’oculiste, ou dictionnaire ophthalmologique, contenant une description anatomique de l’oeil; une définition des maladies qui l’affectent; des observations particulières sur les médicamens et les opérations qui peuvent les guérir; enfin une notice des auteurs qu’il convient de consulter; ouvrage utile aux personnes du monde et à celles qui se livrent à l’étude de cette branche de la médecine. Paris: Lavater, 1808.
2 v. (xii, [2], 522, [2] p.; [4], 287, [1], 32 p., 23 plates); 20 cm. (8vo)
A compendium of eighteenth century ophthalmic knowledge and practice illustrated by a number of engravings showing the instruments and operative procedures of the leading practitioners. The dictionary arrangement and full index enhance the usefulness of this work.
Hirschberg §355.
417 Weylandt d’Hettanges, N.
Notice sur la question de savoir s’il serait possible de rétablir les sensations de vision au moyen d’un oeil artificiel qui transmettrait a la rétine les rayons de lumière convenablement réfractés. Orange: Raphel, 1846.
32 p., 3 plates; 23 cm.
The author, an oculist and former army surgeon, believed that it might be possible to restore vision by an artificial eye which would transmit light rays to the retina in an appropriate refraction. The pamphlet is dedicated to the Queen of Spain because of the prevalence of eye disease in that country.
Wier, Johann, 1515-1588.
“A discourse of the scorby.”
See Banister (32).
417.1 Williams, Henry Willard, 1821-1895.
A practical guide to the study of the diseases of the eye: their medical and surgical treatment. Boston: Ticknor and Fields; New York: Sheldon & Co. and W. Wood; Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. and Lindsay & Blakiston, 1862.
xii, 317, [1] p.; 20 cm.
A prominent American ophthalmologist, Williams spent three years in Europe pursuing his specialty with Sichel (340, 340.1) and Desmarres (102, 103) in Paris, Jaeger (202-207) and Rosas (313.1) in Vienna, and Dalrymple (90, 91) and Lawrence (231.1-233) in London. Professor of ophthalmology at Harvard, Williams was the first in the United States to deliver a complete course of lectures on the diseases of the eye (apart from general medicine and surgery), and one of the first in this country to specialize exclusively in ophthalmology.
“Williams was one of the earliest to use etherization in cataract operations and pioneered a new method of suturing the flap after cataract extraction. He advanced the treatment of iritis without mercury and translated one of [Julius] Sichel’s lesser works into English” (Heirs 1889). The present work comprises methods for eye examination and systematic discussions of eye diseases and their treatment. The book went through six editions and some more reprintings between 1862 and 1880.
AmEncOph XVIII:14031; Heirs 1889; Hirsch V:945; Hirschberg §756; NUC 665:69.
418 Williams, Henry Willard, 1821-1895.
The diagnosis and treatment of the diseases of the eye. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company. Cambridge: The Riverside Press, 1882 (c1881).
xii, [2], 464 p., [5] plates: ill.; 22 cm.
419 Williams, John, fl. 1815.
Traité des maladies des yeux, avec des observations pratiques constatant les succès obtenus, tant à Paris quà Londres, par l’usage d’un topique inventé par J. Williams. Paris: Maugeret, 1814.
151, [1] p.; 20 cm. (8vo)
Bound with Beer (38) and Williams (420, 421).
An Anglo-French quack whose career closely rivaled Taylor’s for pretension and effrontery. Williams, who described himself as the proprietor of a dispensary at High Holborn and honorary oculist to Louis XVIII, began to practice in Paris about 1814. He did not operate for cataract but sold a remedy for 500 francs which he claimed prepared the patient for the operation. With the July Revolution of 1830 his license to practice in France was finally revoked. The author’s claim to membership in the Legion of Honour has twice been carefully obliterated from the text of this copy, as it was in the copy described by Hirschberg.
BOA I:229; Hirschberg §555.
420 Williams, John, fl. 1815.
Compte rendu des cures faites sur des maladies des yeux réputées incurables, avec un topique inventé par Jn. Williams. Paris: Royer; London: The author, 1815.
[2], 60 p.; 20 cm. (8vo)
Bound with Beer (38) and Williams (419, 421).
Hirschberg §555.
421 Williams, John, fl. 1815.
Observations nouvelles sur les maladies des yeux et des oreilles. Paris: J. L. Chanson, 1816?
44, 16 p.; 20 cm (8vo)
Bound with Beer (38) and Williams (419, 420).
Hirschberg §555.
422 Wilson, George, 1818-1859.
Researches on colour-blindness. With a supplement on the danger attending the present system of railway and marine coloured signals. Edinburgh: Sutherland & Knox; London: Simpkin, Marshall and Co., 1855.
[4], xx, [5]-180 p.: ill.; 23 cm.
The first book on color-blindness, and the most important monograph on the subject until the publication of Holmgren’s work in 1877 (194.1). It first began to appear in the November 1853 issue of the Edinburgh Monthly Journal of Medical Science, and was continued in the Transactions of the Royal Scottish Society of the Arts, before being published in book form. Wilson was the first in Britain publicly to point out the potential hazards of color-blindness in railwaymen and seamen. This copy is inscribed by the author to Dr. James Stark, who was colorblind, and whose case (Dr. K.) is described on pages 22-24. A pencil note on the front free-endpaper states “This copy was lent to [Frithiof] Holmgren [1831-1897] by S. [Stark] when H. intended to publish his work on colour-blindness.” Bookplate of William Stirling (1851-1932).
BOA I:229; Sherman, p. 144-147; Waller 10343.
Windsor, Thomas, 1811-1910, trans.
See Selected monographs (338.1).
422.1 Witelo, 13th cent.
Vitellionis mathematici doctissimi Peri optikhV, id est de natura, ratione, & proiectione radiorum uisus, luminum, colorum atq[ue] formarum, quam uulgo Perspectiuam uocant, libri X. . . . Nunc primum opera mathematicor[um] praestantiss. dd. Georgij Tanstetter & Petri Apiani in lucem aedita. Nürnberg: I. Petreius, 1535.
[4], 297 leaves: ill. (diagrs.); 33 cm. (fol.).
Provenance: Sergio Bettini (bookstamp).
A textbook on optics composed between 1270 and 1278 by Witelo (Vitelo, Vitellius, Vitellio), a Polish physicist and philosopher. The text is largely derived from the Optics of Alhazen (8) and served for several centuries as an important link between the Greco-Arabic science and the Latin world. “Witelo employs the experimental as well as the mathematical method and instruments as well as theorems” (Thorndike II:456). His theories on magnifying glasses, refraction, the rainbow, and burning mirrors are hardly superior to those of his predecessors’, but his philosophical (and sometimes psychological) approach is quite original. He discusses “ordinary perception (aspectus simplex) and attentive perception, spontaneous and unconscious reasoning which affects our vision, perception of the third dimension of space, etc.” (Sarton II:1027).
Witelo was born in Silesia and was educated in Paris, Padua, and Viterbo. Besides his Perspectiva, he wrote two theological treatises. He died, probably in the Premonstratensian monastery of Witow, Poland, at an unknown date.
Bird 2422; BM 249:790; Durling 4757; Gorin p. 28; Hirsch V:971; NUC 669:643; Sarton II:1027-1028; Thorndike II:454-456.
Witelo, 13th century.
See Alhazen (8).
Woinow, M., d. 1875, jt. author.
See Reuss (311.2).
422.2 Woinow, M., d. 1875.
Ophthalmometrie. Vienna: A. Holzhausen for W. Braumüller, 1871.
vi, 130 p.: ill.; 24 cm.
The first monograph on ophthalmometry, discussing the methods and possible findings of examinations with the aid of a new instrument, the ophthalmometer or keratometer. The device was invented by Hermann Helmholtz (134.1, 185) who was Woinow’s teacher in Heidelberg, and to whom Woinow dedicated his book.
Woinow studied in Russia, Germany, and Austria, practiced in Moscow and founded a private eye hospital there. A successful ophthalmologist, reputable teacher, and prolific author, he died very young in 1875. His three monographs discuss ophthalmometry, and his numerous articles include subjects such as ametropia, the blind spot, binocular vision, color vision, accommodation, ocular motions, etc.
Hirschberg §901; Hirsch V:978; NUC 670:554.
Wolf, Caspar, 1532-1601, ed.
See Houllier (195).
Wood, Casey Albert, 1856-1942, trans.
See cAlī ibn cĪsā (9) and Grassus (162).
423 Woolhouse, John Thomas, 1650?-1734.
Dissertationes ophthalmicae de cataracta et glaucomate, contra systema sic dictum novum dnn. Brissaei, Antonii, Heisteri & aliorum, e gallica in Latinam linguam translatae a Christophoro Le Cerf, filio. Frankfurt am Main: W. C. Multz, 1719.
[14], 350, [30] p.; 16 cm. (8vo)
A skillful English ophthalmic surgeon and oculist to King James II, with whom he went into exile in 1688, Woolhouse is noted as having approached perilously close to charlatanism by his writings and practice. He is said to have proposed iridectomy in 1711, more than a decade before Cheselden. The present work, in the second edition, translated into Latin from the 1717 edition, is a collection of dissertations and letters attacking the publication by Brisseau (63), Maître-Jan (243, 244) and Heister (182) on the nature of cataract. Woolhouse steadfastly maintained that cataract consisted of a thickened humor or membrane in a space between the pupil and the lens. A poem on Hovius’s discovery of the circulation of blood through the eye (196) accompanied by 104 historical notes is included (p. 247-275).
Hirschberg §329.
423.1 Young, Thomas, 1773-1829.
A course of lectures on natural philosophy and the mechanical arts. London: W. Savage for Joseph Johnson, 1807.
2 v. (xxiv, [2], 796 [i.e. 776] p., XLIII plates (2 col.); xii, [2], 738 p., 15 plates): ill.; 28 cm. (4to)
“A series of lectures Young delivered in 1802-1803 as Professor of Natural History at the Royal Institution, revised for publication in 1807” (Norman 2277). The lectures and appended reprints of earlier writings collected in this two volume set concern a variety of fields in physics and mathematics as well as physical and physiological optics. Topics include: the novel doctrine of interference which—exploiting Huygens’s ideas (198, 199)—established the wave theory of light; the proposition of the electromagnetic theory of light; and color blindness. The section “Observations on vision” (II:523-531) provides detailed description of the eye and was considered by many the best of its time. Volume II, pages 87-520 contain “A catalogue of works relating to natural philosophy and the mechanical arts” offering a systematic classification of scientific disciplines, followed by the catalog of titles arranged in that classification scheme. Among Young’s several contributions to ophthalmology were: hypotheses on the mechanism of accommodation (1792, 1801), the first description of ocular astigmatism (1801), and the trichromatic theory of color sensation (1802; further developed by Helmholtz and Maxwell). In Hirschberg’s words: “Thomas Young perfected the theory of vision as it was possible around the turn of the eighteenth to the nineteenth century” (§459).
Biographical sources include: Memoir of the life of Thomas Young by Hudson Gurney (London, 1831); Life of Thomas Young by George Peacock (London, 1855); Eulogy on Thomas Young by François Arago (Smithsonian Institution, Annual report, 1869); Thomas Young, natural philosopher, 1773-1829 by Alexander Wood (Cambridge [Eng.], 1954); Thomas Young: forgotten genius by Daniel Kline (Cincinnati, c1993).
AmEncOph XVIII:14101; BM 262:550; Dawson 7281; Hirsch V:1017; Hirschberg §459; Norman 2277; Osler 7783; Poggendorff II:1384; Sherman, p. 14.
423.2 Young, Thomas, 1773-1829.
Oeuvres ophthalmologiques de Thomas Young: traduites et annotées par M. Tscherning. Copenhagen: A. F. Höst & Son, 1894.
[8], 248 p., [1], III color plates: ill., port.; 24 cm.
BOA I:233; Hirschberg §459; NUC 679:548.
Zacharias.
Tractatus de passionibus oculorum qui vocatur sisilacera, id est secreta secretorum. Compilatus circa annos 1143-1180.
In Collectio ophthalmologica veterum auctorium (82), fasc. 5.
424 Zahn, Johann, 1641-1707.
Oculus artificialis teledioptricus sive telescopium, ex abditis rerum naturalium & artificialium principiis protractum nova methodo, eaque solida explicatum ac comprimis e triplici fundamento physico seu naturali mathematico dioptrico et mechanico, seu practico stabilitum. Opus curiosum practico-theoricum magna rerum varietate adnoratum, multorum votis diu expetitum, omnibus artium novarum studiosis perquam utile quo philosophiae atque mathesi praesertim mixtae, nec non universo pene hominum statui amplissimis adjumentis consulitur; nova plurima abstrusa curiosa technasmata recluduntur, ipsaque ars telescopiaria facillime addiscenda, ac sumptibus non adeo magnis in praxim adducenda proponitur, adeoque telescopium ex tenebris in lucem asseritur. Würzburg: Q. Heyl, 1685-86.
3 pts. in 1 v. ([22], 190 (i.e. 218) p., 1 table; [2], 271 p., 2 plates, 5 tables; [10], 281 p., 28 plates, 2 tables): ill.; 31 cm. (fol.)
“Includes the first complete history of early microscopes” (G-M 263). The author, a German philosopher who belonged to the Premonstratensian order at Herbipolis (Würzburg), displayed a detailed knowledge of vision, the properties of light, and the structure of the eye. Copiously illustrated throughout with folding plates and smaller woodcuts, many of which are after the works of Scheiner (331, 332), Chérubin d’Orléans (75.1), and Kircher (217). The final section deals with the grinding and polishing of lenses and the construction of microscopes, telescopes, the camera obscura, and other optical instruments.
BOA I:235; G-M 263.
425 Zeis, Eduard, 1807-1868.
Abhandlungen aus dem Gebiet der Chirurgie. Leipzig: Gebauer, 1845.
iv, 100 p., 4 plates; 21 cm.
The first of these three surgical essays, published originally a decade earlier in Ammon’s Zeitschrift für Ophthalmologie, deals with diseases of the eye lids, and particularly with the physiology and pathology of the conjunctival (Meibomian) glands. The author was professor of surgery at the University of Marburg and was best known for his works in the field of plastic surgery.
Hirschberg §543.
Zeller, Christoph David, respondent.
“De setaceo nuchae, auricularum, ipsiusque oculi.”
In Dissertationes medicae selectae Tubingenses (112) 2:232-260.
426 Zinn, Johann Gottfried, 1727-1759.
Descriptio anatomica oculi humani iconibus illustrata. Göttingen: Widow of B. A. Vandenhoeck, 1755.
[16], 272 p., 7 plates; 24 cm. (4to)
“Zinn published a fine atlas of the human eye; he was the first adequately to describe the ‘zonula of Zinn’ and the ‘annulus of Zinn’ ” (G-M 1484). Hirschberg and Duke-Elder concur that this landmark work on the anatomy of the eye was the first complete work in the world’s literature on this subject. Zinn correctly described and depicted ‘fibrae radiatae’ and showed that the number of fiber bundles in the optic nerve is constant and continuous with those of the retina. Zinn, one of Haller’s favorite pupils, distinguished himself in both anatomy and botany, becoming professor of medicine and director of the botanical gardens at Göttingen. The illustrations in this work, engraved by Joel Paul Kaltenhofer, mark a new plateau in the graphic representation of the eye, for it becomes, in the modern sense, recognizable both ‘in situ’ in the orbit and enucleated.
BOA II:117; G-M 1484; Hirschberg §463; Waller 10493.