A handbook of ophthalmic science and practice

Historical Significance: Henry Edward Juler (1842-1921) is described on the title page as an assistant surgeon to several hospitals in London, a pathologist to the Royal Westminster Hospital and a former clinical assistant at Moorfields. He trained as a medical student at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, where his father Henry Cundell Juler was a Governor. After his parents emigrated to Ohio, he remained in the United Kingdom and became a well-known ophthalmologist. By the time he was 40 in 1882 he had written a Handbook of Ophthalmology. Later published worldwide in 1884 as Handbook of Ophthalmic Science and Practice, it went to many editions over subsequent years. He became a senior surgeon at the Royal Westminster Eye Hospital in London, and subsequently chief of service there from 1894 to 1911. In 1882 he developed a small reflecting ophthalmoscope, which had a rotating disc of 21 lenses. In 1886, he modified the design to include an external electric light bulb, powered by a battery. This made it one of the earliest electric ophthalmoscopes. It was very popular in the United Kingdom and was also sold overseas (Keeler Arch Ophthal 2002;120:194-201). These instruments were made on his behalf by the well-known (at that time) optical instrument maker, the Hungarian Moritz Pillischer, and his nephew Jacob Pillischer, who took over from Moritz in 1887. See the article by Norman B Medow, Ophthalmology Times, 15 March 2006]. Henry Edward Juler's son, Frank Anderson Juler (1880-1962), also became an ophthalmologist and developed some ophthalmic equipment himself. These items were manufactured on his behalf by the Keeler Instrument Company.