Description

Loring ophthalmoscope 1877

Loring ophthalmoscope, this particular specimen was the next to the last in Loring’s succession of ophthalmoscope improvements. It has fifteen lenses which are numbered consecutively in digits and in diopters.
There is a rectangular rotatable concave mirror to pick up light and shine it into the subjects’ eyes.
This one’s lid is marked, “Dr. Loring’s Ophthalmoscope.”
The inside liner is marked, “J.REYNDERS & CO , Surg’l Inst’s Anat.  Models., 303 Fourth Av. N.Y.
The ebonite handle is not the original one but fits loosely into the hole meant for the original handle.

Edward Greely Loring was born in Boston in 1837. He began his medical studies in Europe. He finished them at Harvard Medical School and received his doctorate degree in 1864.

The works of Helmholtz, Donders, and Graefe inspired him in ophthalmology.
He briefly set up practice in Baltimore but soon moved to New York and became the partner of Cornelius Rea Agnew.
Loring worked at the Brooklyn Eye and Ear Hospital, and later at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary until he died in 1888.
Loring wrote his textbook on ophthalmology in 1886.

He developed his first ophthalmoscope, suitable for refraction, in 1869. His last model appeared in 1878 after a undergoing a series of improvements.