Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology

2005;

33

: 516–517

�

Correspondence:

Dr Graham Wilson, 48 Trafalgar Street, Nelson, New Zealand. Email: graham.wilson@nmhs.govt.nz

History of Ophthalmology

Horatio Nelson: the one-eyed Admiral?

Graham Wilson

FRANZCO

Nelson Eye, Nelson, New Zealand

one eye

but it has happily been restored. He also has a speck on the other eye; but that he could see with

both

at no very distant date, we are assured, from the very best authority, that of his Lordship’s own information, who has declared that ‘he could

see best

with (what people called) his

worst eye

’.

So in this issue, we acknowledge the bicentenary of theBattle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805, where the famous

Key words:

Horatio Nelson

,

history of ophthalmology

.

On the morning of 12 July 1794 as the English guns bom-barded the city of Calvi (on Corsica), a French shellexploded on the rampart of sandbags in front of CaptainHoratio Nelson, sending up a shower of stones and sand.Nelson’s face was cut, his right brow was lacerated and somesand was blown into his right eye, as a result of which theeye was ‘lost’ and tales of its alleged blindness have sincebecome written into English folklore and mythology.

1

A few days later Nelson wrote ‘My right eye is entirelycut down, but the surgeons flatter me I shall not entirely losethe sight of that eye; at present I can distinguish light fromdark but no object … such is the chance of War, it was withina hair’s breadth of taking off my head.’

1

Corsica had beenwon, but had Nelson really lost his eye?

In the following years, Nelson made persistent publicclaims that he was blind in that eye, although he did notreceive a pension from the Admiralty for his eye injury.

2

Observers of the time recorded that ‘there was nothingnoticeable about his sightless eye’.

1

This disproves one of themost cherished myths of British history, repeated endlesslyin paintings, prints, posters and films – that Nelson wore aneye patch. In fact, Nelson’s letters show his relief that hisappearance would not be marred.

In 1804 Nelson, who was now Admiral Lord HoratioNelson (Fig. 1), wrote ‘My eyesight fails me dreadfully; Ifirmly believe that in a very few years I shall be stone blind.’

1

These complaints were more likely the onset of presbyopia(he was 46) and his bilateral pterygiae than any sequelae ofthe ocular injury a decade earlier.

2

However, an article in

TheTimes

newspaper in the same year was at odds with Nelson’sown claims:

It is generally understood that the gallant Lord Nelson has lost one eye; and a few days ago a paragraph appeared in one of the papers, lamenting that his remaining eye was considerably weaker of late, and expressing an apprehension that he might altogether lose his sight. We beg leave to state, for the satisfaction of those of his Lordship’s admirers who are not personally acquainted with him, that Lord Nelson

is not blind of either eye

. It is true that he, for a short period, lost the sight of

Figure 1.

Rear-Admiral Lord Nelson, aged 42, in 1800. Portraitby Sir William Beechey (1753–1839). Oil on canvas. (With permis-sion of the National Portrait Gallery, London.)

Horatio Nelson: the one-eyed Admiral? 517

Admiral defeated the French. The secrets of his eyes ofcourse went with him to his grave as Nelson was mortallywounded by a sniper on the verge of victory.

Readers who wish a more detailed analysis of Nelson’s eyeare referred to the following excellent articles.

1,2

R

EFERENCES

1. Barras TC. Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson’s lost eye.

Trans Ophthal-mol Soc UK

1986;

105

: 351–5.2. Keynes M. Horatio Nelson never was blind: his woundings and

frequent ill-health.

J Med Biogr

1998;

6

: 114–19.

Nobel Laureates in Ophthalmology

Walter Rudolf Hess

John Davison

FRANZCO

and Graham Wilson

FRANZCO

Eye Department, Nelson Hospital, Nelson, New Zealand

Hess was born in Switzerland and undertook his medicaltraining in Switzerland and Germany before graduating inZurich (1906). After training as an ophthalmologist he lefta prosperous practice (1912) to pursue his interest in physi-ology. In 1917 he was appointed Director of the Physiolog-ical Institute at Zurich. His scientific interests centred onhaemodynamics and the regulation of respiration. TheNobel Prize recognized his discovery of the coordinatingrole of the midbrain over autonomic functions of the body.

His Nobel lecture discusses his research into the physio-logical function of the diencephalon – especially thehypothalamus – and the paired, antagonistic innervation(sympathetic and parasympathetic) of internal organs via theautonomic nervous system that produced a dynamic equilib-rium adapted to the current situation of the organism. Henoted that stimulation of the diencephalon changed psycho-logical behaviour and offered this as a link between physiol-ogy and behavioural science.

2

R

EFERENCES

1. The Nobel Foundation.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine– Laureates

. Stockholm: The Nobel Foundation. Available from:http://nobelprize.org/medicine/laureates/1949/index.html

2. Hess WR. The central control of the activity of internal organs.In:

Nobel Lectures, Physiology or Medicine 1942–1962

. Amsterdam:Elsevier Publishing, 1964. Available from: http://nobelprize.org/medicine/laureates/1949/hess-lecture.html

Walter Rudolf Hess (1881–1973), Swiss ophthalmologistand physiologist (Fig. 1), was awarded half of the 1949Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine ‘for his discovery ofthe functional organization of the interbrain as a coordinatorof the activities of the internal organs’.

1

Figure 1.

Walter Rudolf Hess, Nobel Laureate Physiology orMedicine 1949. © The Nobel Foundation.