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ON SOME HEREDITARY DISEASES OF 

 THE EYE. 



BEING 



THE BOWMAN LECTURE, 

 Delivered on Thursday, June 10th, 1909, 



BY 



E. NETTLESHIP. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



I HAVE chosen the heredity of certain diseases of the 

 eye as my subject, because whilst possessing great 

 attractions, it furnishes a theme upon which one who 

 is to some extent out of touch with the newest clinical 

 ophthalmology may still, perhaps, hope to speak without 

 presumption. I believe also that all here who had, like 

 myself, the great privilege of acquaintance with Sir 

 William Bowman, of experiencing the charm of his voice 

 and diction, and of seeing him at work, will agree that had 

 he been alive to-day he would, with the keen but discern- 

 ing enthusiasm that he always brought to bear upon new 

 scientific problems, have recognised that the study of 

 heredity confronts us with subjects of absorbing interest, 

 the right interpretation of which must have important 

 consequences for the future of our race. As a matter 

 of fact Bowman actually communicated to Charles Darwin 

 some of the earliest generalised observations upon the 

 heredity of cataract, and, as we shall see further -on, later 

 work has but confirmed his statements. 



Taking a few of the principal ophthalmic diseases, the 

 hereditary transmission of which is now recognised, I 

 propose to-day to consider them from that point of view, 



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