Edward Nettleship and Optic neuritis

Abstract

Arabic texts of the ninth century described loss of sight as one form of ocular paralysis. Some early descriptions of amaurosis in retrospect probably describe optic neuropathy but its nature and defining physical signs arose from Helmholtz’s ophthalmoscope in 1845. In 1864 von Gräfe and later Thomas Buzzard and Clifford Allbutt gave detailed accounts, but the most important description was the 1884 work of the ophthalmologist Edward Nettleship, which is here recounted.