GLAUCOMA is a condition in which the intraocular pressure is intermittently or continuously higher than the optimum pressure which the organism has developed as a physiologic norm. The chief problem which this condition presents is the means by which the intermittent or continuous increase in intraocular pressure is brought about. Assuming that there is an acceptable theory which explains the manner in which the increase in pressure is brought about, how do the various clinical forms of glaucoma fit such a theory?
In a publication in 1938,1 I presented a new concept of the maintenance of normal intraocular pressure and a new theory of the pathogenesis of chronic simple glaucoma. In the following discussion, I shall restate (1) the concept of the maintenance of normal intraocular pressure, and (2) the theory of the manner in which an increased intraocular pressure is brought about. I shall then attempt to show