 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Ophthalmology in the medieval Islamic world" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Ophthalmology was one of the foremost branches in medievalIslamic medicine. The oculist orkahhal (کحال), a somewhat despised professional inGalen's time, was an honored member of the medical profession by theAbbasid period, occupying a unique place in royal households. Medieval Islamic scientists (unlike their classical predecessors) considered it normal to combine theory and practice, including the crafting of precise instruments, and therefore found it natural to combine the study of the eye with the practical application of that knowledge.[1] The specialized instruments used in their operations ran into scores. Innovations such as the "injectionsyringe", ahollow needle, invented by Ammar ibn Ali ofMosul, which was used for the extraction by suction of softcataracts, were quite common.
Muslim physicians described such conditions aspannus,glaucoma (described as "headache of the pupil"),phlyctenulae, and operations on theconjunctiva. They were the first to use the words "retina" and "cataract".
To become a practitioner, there was no one fixed method or path of training. There was even no formal specialization in the different branches of medicine, as might be expected. But some students did eventually approximate to a specialist by acquiring proficiency in the treatment of certain diseases or in the use of certain drugs.
Nevertheless, it was standard and necessary to learn and understand the works and legacy of predecessors. Among those one can mention,The alteration of the eye byYuhanna ibn Masawayh, whose work can be considered the earliest work on Ophthalmology, followed byHunain ibn Ishaq, known in the west as Johannitius, for his workThe ten treatises of the eye. One of Hunain ibn Ishaq's innovations was to describe the crystalline lens as being located in the exact center of the eye.[2]
The next major landmark text on ophthalmology was theChoice of Eye Diseases written inEgypt by theIraqi Ammar ibn Ali al-Mawsili[1] who attempted the earliest extraction ofcataracts usingsuction. He invented a hollow metallicsyringe, which he applied through thesclerotic and successfully extracted the cataracts through suction.[citation needed] He wrote the following on his invention:
Then I constructed the hollow needle, but I did not operate with it on anybody at all, before I came toTiberias. There came a man for an operation who told me: Do as you like with me, only I cannot lie on my back. Then I operated on him with the hollow needle and extracted the cataract; and he saw immediately and did not need to lie, but slept as he liked. Only I bandaged his eye for seven days. With this needle nobody preceded me. I have done many operations with it in Egypt.[3]
| Part ofa series on |
| Islamic studies |
|---|
| Jurisprudence |
| Science in medieval times |
| Arts |
| Other topics |
Avicenna, inThe Canon of Medicine (c. 1025), described sight as one of the five externalsenses.[4] The Latin word "retina" is derived from Avicenna'sArabic term for the organ.[5]
In hisColliget,Averroes (1126–1198) was the first to attributephotoreceptor properties to theretina,[6] and he was also the first to suggest that the principal organ ofsight might be thearachnoid membrane (aranea). His work led to much discussion in 16th century Europe over whether the principal organ of sight is the traditionalGalenic crystallinehumour or the Averroistaranea, which in turn led to the discovery that the retina is the principal organ of sight.[7]
Ibn al-Nafis wrote a large textbook on ophthalmology calledThe Polished Book on Experimental Ophthalmology. The book is divided into two sections: "On the Theory of Ophthalmology" and "Simple and Compunded Ophthalmic Drugs".[8] Other significant works in medieval Islamic ophthalmology includeRhazes'Continens,Ali ibn Isa al-Kahhal'sNotebook of the Oculists, and the ethnic Assyrian ChristianJibrail Bukhtishu'sMedicine of the Eye, among numerous others.
In theOttoman Empire, and well into theRepublic of Turkey of the 20th century, a class of ambulatory eye surgeons, popularly known as the "kırlangıç oğlanları" ("sons of the swallow") operated on cataract using special knives. From contemporary sources can be glimpsed that the reputation of these "blinding frauds" was far from spotless.[9]