Ophthalmic Surgery, A Clinical Manual Of 19Th And 20Th Century For The Practitioners And Students Of Medicine By Robert Brudenell Carter And William Adams Frost

The 19th century was the era when the foundations of modern medical science were laid. The treatise "Ophthalmic Surgery," a handbook of knowledge and experience, was given to medical students by two of the leading ophthalmologists of the time, Robert Brudenell Carter and William Adams Frost. This presentation highlights the pioneering work of these two famous doctors in ophthalmology and cataract surgery. The book was published in 1887 when Carter was 59 years old and one of the most influential figures in English Medicine. His student and friend William Adam Frost was 34 years old, and this manual helped to establish him as an important figure in Ophthalmology. 

The facts took place in Victorian England, and this presentation was designed and completed at the 1st Ophthalmological Clinic of AHEPA Hospital of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. 

The book consists of 556 pages and includes fifteen chapters and an appendix of reading tests and formulas for treatment. The first four chapters concern the basic study of the eye (anatomy, examination, affection of the eyelids, cornea, and sclera). From the 5th to the 12th chapter, there are detailed descriptions of cases of any medical condition of the eyes. At the end of the manual are three chapters concerning refraction, ocular muscles, and orbit. 

In the surgical part, 78 operations were recorded, 13 cataracts were removed by extracapsular, 1 by intracapsular technique, 2 were couched, one was a curette evacuation, and 6 discissions. They changed the making of the corneal section with Beer's knife to a Graefe Knife in a series in 1869

These two distinguished physicians were the successors of the famous William Bowman, Albrecht von Graefe, and Donders, the founders of modern Ophthalmology. Robert Brudenell Carter regularly visited Moorfields, attended the lectures of Bowman, Critchett, Hulke, and Soelberg Wells, and made their acquaintance. He settled in Nottingham and played a leading role in founding the Nottingham and Midland Eye Infirmary in 1859. His long career included the Royal Eye Hospital in Southwark and after Henry Power as the Ophthalmic Surgeon at St. George's Hospital. He continued until 1892, when he was succeeded by his student and friend William Adams Frost, who spent his major professional life at St. George's as a lecturer in ophthalmic surgery.

Those inspired ophthalmic surgeons Robert Brudenell Carter (1828-1918) and William Adams Frost (1853-1935) promoted and elevated Ophthalmology to one of the most interesting medical specialties through continuous research, practice, and persistence in avoiding complications in their surgeries. An academic teacher and an enthusiastic student made a scientific company until the end of their lives. Their work was significant in educating young doctors, and this handbook certifies their contribution to our science and was still in practice even  after the death of Adams Frost in 1935.