Cover illustration courtesy Mr Richard Keeler, Curator, museum of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, UK.

Professor Allvar Gullstrand's large reflex-free ophthalmoscope was first produced by Carl Zeiss Jena in 1911. The model shown on the cover is a later, improved, version. A ‘reflex’ refers to an image formed by a reflection. The cornea can produce annoying reflexes that interfere with visualisation of objects behind it. The fundus too produces a reflex, which manifests as a red glow filling the pupillary aperture. Overcoming the interference caused by …