“In the whole history of medicine there is no more beautiful episode than the invention of the ophthalmoscope, and physiology has few greater triumphs.” So wrote Edward Greely Loring (1837-1888), on the first page of his Textbook of Ophthalmology (New York, 1886). Loring also designed several ophthalmoscopes with small lenses on the edge of a disc, such that rotation would bring up the lens best suited to the eye under examination.
This is an example of Loring’s 15-lens ophthalmoscope with quadrant that, when new, cost $30. The inscription on the box reads "Loring / Ophthalmoscope." That on the inside reads “BALTIMORE OPTICAL CO. / Wholesale Opticians / BALTIMORE, MD.”
Ref: Edward G. Loring, “Determination of the Optical Condition of the Eye,” American Journal of the Medical Sciences 118 (1870): 323-348.
Ed. G. Loring, “A New Modification of the Ophthalmoscope,” American Journal of the Medical Sciences 67 (1874): 133-135.
James W. Queen & Co., Priced and Illustrated Catalogue of Ophthalmological Instruments (Philadelphia, 1889), p. 42.
Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.
If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.