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Retina Etymology 

In his_ Short History of Anatomy and Physiology_, Charles Singer
notes that the word retina is unrelated to rete. He hints that the actual
root is Arabic, but does not provide any details. Historically, Rufus
indicated that, "The ancient name by which it [retina?] is called is
cobweb-like (arachnoeides), on account of its fineness. But Herophilus
likens it to a casting net that is drawn up, some also call it net-like.
Others call it vitreous, on the basis of the liquid" (von Staden, p.
206). According to Celsus, however, Herophilus called the retina
arachnoidem, cobweb-like (von Staden, p. 206). May, in her translation of
De Usu Partium, implies that Herophilus had changed the name from
arachoidem to amphiblestron. In most of these accounts, there is some
confusion as to which coat is being refereed to.
     In his _Medical Etymology_, Perry Pepper says that retina derives
from the Latin for net (i.e., rete). He then says, "this is probably the
correct derivation, although there is no truly net-like structure in the
retina. It probably came about as follows: Galen applied to the structure
the Greek word amphiblestron, which had two meanings, a surrounding coat
and a fisherman's net. He used the word in the first sense; but when it
was translated into Latin, the translator chose the second meaning and
used the Latin word rete, net." 
     This makes some sense, but this still leaves several unresolved
issues. First, either Latin translation of amphiblestron would make
sense, a net is not too different from a web; Celsus, however, makes rete
seem unlikely. Second, what about Singer's suggestion of an Arabic
origin? In _The Retina_, Polyak notes that the Arabic word for the
retina, when it was mentioned, was al-shabakiyyah. Is there some meaning
of this other than retina?
     All this leaves me with a burning question: whether from
arachnoeides, amphiblstron, or al-shabakiyyah, what is the origin of the
word retina?

Christopher Robinson
<HISTNEUR-L@library.ucla.edu>