"Glaucoma affecting each crystalline lens": A long-lost manuscript by Dr. William Mackenzie

Dr. William Mackenzie was one of the great pioneers of British ophthalmolog y in the 19th century. We present a newly-discovered manuscript in which Ma ckenzie described how he performed surgery for bilateral nuclear sclerosis of the lens, in 1842-1843. This case became the focus for a discussion of t he nature of "cataract" and "glaucoma" in the fourth edition of Mackenzie's great work, A practical treatise on diseases of the eye. Mackenzie is gene rally remembered as a great compiler of knowledge, but the text Mackenzie b uilt around this case shows him pursuing original arguments based on his ow n observation. This case report gives us a vignette of Mackenzie that illus trates aspects of Mackenzie's character and achievements in an intimate way , and it dramatizes in a lively manner how some of the most fundamental con cepts in ophthalmology evolved. (Surv Ophthalmol 44:527-533, 2000. (C) 2000 by Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.).