Bartolomeo Panizza's "Observations on the optic nerve" (1855).

Bartolomeo Panizza was the first person to produce experimental and clinical evidence for a visual area in the posterior cerebral cortex. We here provide the first translation of this work entitled "Observations on the optic nerve" originally published in Italian in 1855. We also review the state of knowledge of the brain around Panizza's time, summarize his career, and consider why his work was ignored.