The history of the Ophthalmological Society of Copenhagen 1900–50
2002; Wiley; Volume: 80; Issue: s234 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1034/j.1600-0420.80.s234.2.x
ISSN1600-0420
Autores Tópico(s)Medical History and Innovations
ResumoOne hundred years have passed since the Danish ophthalmologists established the first Danish Ophthalmological Society in Copenhagen. The time was ripe for this. The University of Copenhagen had been established for more than 400 years (in 1479), and the development had come a long way since the royal weigher and measurer in Malmö, Henrick Smid, wrote his book on home medical advice about epidemics and diseases of the eye (Smid 1557a): … Among all epidemics and diseases, none are so obscure to them (the surgeons) as the injuries and defects of the eye/ Because they are so strangely created by God,/ many learned physicians write about them/ in such a way that their injuries and defects cannot well be scrutinized and described. Smid's Danish text, dated 1557, is as shown in Fig. 1. The Danish text from Henrick Smid (Smid 1557b) (from Norrie 1925, p. 1). With regard to the period from 1850 to 1900, I will follow to a considerable extent the Danish ophthalmologist and skilled historian Gordon Norrie (1855–1941) (Norrie 1925) (Fig. 2). Norrie had known personally many of the Danish ophthalmologists of that time. Gordon Norrie (photograph from Lottrup-Andersen 1952, p. 122). From 1900 onwards, I report abstracts from the proceedings of the Danish Ophthalmological Society in Copenhagen, and additionally from 1923, from Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica. Moreover, abstracts from the detailed and vivid portrayal of the first 50 years of the Society by Lottrup-Andersen (abbreviated Lottrup) are included. With regard to the time around 1950, I have added a few personal memories. They are, of course, characterized considerably by my personal opinion of people and events. A short review of the history of Danish ophthalmology from 1850 to the turn of the century will show how quickly the development progressed. The first practical eye speculum (ophthalmoscope) was constructed by Hermann von Helmholtz (1821–1894) in 1850 and made public in 1851 (Helmholtz 1851) (Fig. 3). The invention set off a revolution in the study of the interior of the eye. It is probably the greatest advance in the history of ophthalmology. (For details of previous attempts, see Norn, this Supplement, p. 33.) Hermann von Helmholtz' speculum 1851 (from Norn 1993, p. 404). As early as in 1852, the Danish ophthalmologist Georg Carl Heinrich Lehmann (1815–1890) gave a talk to the Royal Medical Society on the use of the eye speculum. In the same year, the first two eye clinics in Copenhagen were opened by Heinrich Lehmann and Nathan Gerson Melchior (1811–1872). One would imagine that such a brilliant and valuable invention as the eye speculum would be well received, even outside ophthalmological circles. Not so! While Danish ophthalmologists picked up the invention very rapidly, a pronounced scepticism, not to say violent resistance to the method, was aroused in the clan of physicians in Copenhagen. The surgeon, Professor Matthias Saxtorph Jr (1822–1900), mocked the use of the eye speculum in Bibliotek f. Læger in 1855 with terms such as 'rage of invention' and 'charlatanism'. Not very gentle or deliberate terms from a professor of surgery at the University of Copenhagen! The establishment of the first two eye clinics in Copenhagen also caused strong resistance, among others from Surgeon Commander Michael Djørup (1803–1876). In a pamphlet published 6 years after Helmholtz's invention, he spoke of 'the mania for eye diseases' (Norrie 1925, pp. 155–167). Such is the fate of pioneers! Melchior took the initiative in establishing the Royal Institute for the Blind in 1858. Thereby he originated the idea that the Danish State take over the education of the blind from the older private 'Royal' Institute for the Blind dating from 1811, which had been run by the 'Kjæden' order (Houmøller 1961). 'The old Institute for the Blind had been supported and protected by the Father of the Country, King Frederik the Sixth' (lecture by Melchior et al. 1857, cited in Norrie 1925, pp. 163–165). Shortly after Helmholtz's invention, the dominant figure in Danish ophthalmology for many years, Edmund Hansen (Grut) 1831–1907 (Fig. 4) took a doctor's degree in Copenhagen in 1857 with a thesis on the practical use of the eye speculum. Later he adopted his mother's name, Grut. He was of an aristocratic family and very wealthy; he had thus been able to afford long journeys abroad. Most important was a long visit to the famous ophthalmologist Albrecht von Graefe (1828–1870) in Berlin (von Graefe was married to the Danish countess Anna von Knuth). Edmund Hansen Grut (from a painting at the Rigshospital, Eye Department, Copenhagen). In 1863, Edmund Hansen (Grut) established a clinic and out-patients department for those suffering from eye diseases at Nørregade. The clinic gave consultations free of charge for poor people (Norrie 1925, p. 170). Grut became the first State-employed Assistant Professor in eye diseases, and from 1888 Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Copenhagen. The clinic moved to Havnegade, where for many years it became a Mecca where almost all Danish ophthalmologists received their training. In 1880 the clinic, which acted as a university clinic, had 19 beds, and about 100 operations for cataract were performed annually. Grut was an imposing, masterful, landowner type, intelligent and also an excellent teacher. Among his assistants were Jannik Bjerrum, Marius Tscherning and Gordon Norrie. An exciting description can be read in Norrie's book (Norrie 1925, pp. 183–189). Jannik Petersen Bjerrum (1851–1920) (Fig. 5), was born into a family of strong Danish sympathies at Skærbæk in Southern Jutland, a Danish area which, after the war in 1864 between Denmark and Germany, became German territory for 56 years (Meyer, ca. 1940). Jannik Petersen Bjerrum (from a painting at the Rigshospital, Eye Department, Copenhagen). He studied in Ribe (to the north of the frontier), and later in Copenhagen, and in that way became bilingual. Many of his scientific papers were printed in German international journals. Consequently they rapidly became known in foreign countries, unlike most Danish scientific papers. Bjerrum's studies in campimetry published in 1889 also became known rapidly in Great Britain (Bjerrum 1889). Grut's wife was English-born, and a young relation of hers visited Bjerrum's eye clinic to study campimetry. He later became the well-known ophthalmologist Berry. His young associates in Edinburgh, Sinclair and Traquair, also came to Copenhagen to study with Bjerrum, who had become world-famous as the founder of campimetry in describing, inter alia, the arcuate scotoma in glaucoma during his careful examinations of perimetry (Fig. 6). Both Traquair and Sinclair continued in the Bjerrum tradition, and both also became world-famous (Fig. 7) (Duke-Elder 1971). Traquair (1875–1954) writes in the preface to his book An Introduction to Clinical Perimetry, 1st edition: Bjerrum's arcuate scotoma (from Ehlers 1966). Harry Moss Traquair (photograph from Duke-Elder 1971, p. 12). The procedure described is essentially the method of Bjerrum, who discovered, more than 30 years ago, that he could obtain more information by using the back of his consulting-room door than he could from the ordinary perimeter. Originally directed to the study of glaucoma, the principle of Bjerrum's method has been extensively applied by Roenne, at the present time the chief exponent of quantitative perimetry, who has demonstrated its advantages in the examination of all conditions in which perimetry is useful, and who introduced the term 'quantitative' to indicate its analytic nature… (Traquair 1927). Bjerrum himself spoke very modestly about his discovery. 'I had no idea of its existence'. Traquair, Duke-Elder (1962) and Holger Ehlers (1966) mention that Bjerrum's original equipment was the brown-painted double-door between his office and his private flat. The door gave a dark background of about 2 × 2 m. Ehlers wrote: 'It was with a door like this as a background, a few pencil marks and bits of paper that he discovered and studied the arcuate scotomas. No more is needed for one who is endowed with the gift of the scientist'; and Ehlers added: When now, three-quarters of a century later, we try to evaluate the importance of the discovery of the arcuate scotoma to the ophthalmologists of those times, we must remember that they were not only without the help rendered by neurosurgery in cases of visual-field disturbances, but even with local diseases of the eye they had to do without the tonometer, slit lamp, gonioscope, etc. Insidious serous iritis, incipient tabetic atrophy, vascular diseases of the disc, and even an incipient cataract might be difficult to distinguish from incipient glaucoma. Finding a sign characteristic of the glaucomatous process, though only a small sign, was a great thing – a gift to ophthalmology (Ehlers 1966). Bjerrum had established an international school at a very high scientific level with, among others, Traquair and Sinclair, and in Denmark with Henning Rønne – a golden age for Danish ophthalmology. An annual Bjerrum lecture in Copenhagen in honour of Jannik Bjerrum has been instituted and was held for the first time in 1965 with Professor, Dr. med. Torstein Bertelsen of Bergen in Norway as guest speaker. Danish ophthalmology also flourished in other fields. No fewer than 17 ophthalmological theses saw the light of day between 1835 and 1900. Impressive, in view of the very low number of doctors treating diseases of the eye at that time. In 1900, Danish ophthalmologists found that the time had come to establish a Danish Ophthalmological Society. The initiative came from the young ophthalmologist K.K.K. Lundsgaard (1867–1931) (Fig. 8), and a notice of meeting was sent out on 5 September. The letter was signed: K.K.K. Lundsgaard, Edm. Jensen, J. Bjerrum. K.K.K. Lundsgaard (from a painting at the Rigshospital, Eye Department, Copenhagen). On 19 September, 18 ophthalmologists, all from Copenhagen, met in the room belonging to the Medical Society, kgs. Nytorv 6, mezzanine (see Norn, the Society's archives of the original steel filing cabinet, p. 24). A notion was carried unanimously to establish the Ophthalmological Society of Copenhagen (Det oftalmologiske Selskab i Kjøbenhavn). The inaugural meeting took place on 17 October 1900. In the year to come, rules etc. were to be prepared. Both Lottrup and Holger Ehlers assumed the birthday of the Society to be in 1901, but we follow here the skilled historian Gordon Norrie, who clearly gives 1900 as the year of foundation (Norrie 1925, p. ii). Professor Grut refused to accept the Presidency, pleading his advanced age (70 years), and was promptly elected an honorary member. Professor Jannik Bjerrum was elected as President, and K.K.K. Lundsgaard as Vice-President. From the very first meeting, minutes were prepared (see Norn, the Society's archives). Some very outstanding founders of the Ophthalmological Society of Denmark, Grut and Bjerrum, have already been mentioned. Early on, K.K.K. Lundsgaard demonstrated his brilliant organizing ability. The Nordic Ophthalmological Literary Ring (NOLR) was set up in 1911 on his initiative; but his greatest success was undoubtedly the establishment of Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica in 1923. Of course, Lundsgaard was elected Editor-in-Chief and in 1930 he became President of the International Association of Ophthalmologists. A Lundsgaard medal was instituted in 1931 (Fig. 9) (Norn 1980). The obverse was decorated with two owls wearing spectacles, after a painting from the 1600s by the Dutchman Adriaen Pietersz van de Venne. The symbolism is emphasized by the Dutch inscription at the top of the painting: 'Hoe dienen wy by een'['What a good match we are']. The Lundsgaard Medal 1931. Two owls wearing spectacles (from a painting byAdriaen Pietersz van de Venne). Some years later, a relief of Lundsgaard was mounted on the reverse of the medal. Among the Founder Members was the titular Professor Edmund Zeuthen Jensen (1861–1950), the first of all our Edmund-ophthalmologists (Fig. 10). His description of retino-chorioiditis juxtapapillaris with vision field defect entered history in 1908 as 'Jensen's disease'. However, 6 years later he discarded the surname Jensen. Thus Jensen and Edmund did not follow each other in attaining world-wide fame. Edmund Zeuthen Jensen (photograph from Jens Edmund). Another very forceful Founder was C.F. Heerfordt (1871–1953) (Fig. 11). He became most known internationally for his scientific paper 'Febris uveo-parotidea subchronica …' in 1909, later called Heerfordt's syndrome. The annals of the Danish Medical Association have covered him in glory as Founder of the Association of Younger Doctors. A painting of Heerfordt by Knud Erik Larsen is in the Medical-historical Museum in Copenhagen. C.F. Heerfordt (drawing by Carl Jensen in Klods Hans 1908). Heerfordt threw himself ardently into the problems of glaucoma, and adhered obstinately to his opinion that flaps in the vortex veins were the cause of haemorrhagic glaucoma. Resistance to his theories continued to increase. Worst of all were his press announcements claiming that he had found the true cause of glaucoma, illustrated by a photo of himself! It ended in disaster. At an Extraordinary General Meeting in September 1912 all members of the Ophthalmological Society present resolved that they found his theory of the cause of glaucoma of no importance. They would no longer listen to his theories. After some weeks of discussion in the Society, Chairman Lundsgaard stopped the quarrel (, pp. 1196 and 1414). From that day onwards Heerfordt never set foot in the Society; but, characteristically of his Gallic temperament, he never resigned. Admittedly, Heerfordt must have seemed exhausting and irritating, but it appears to both Holger Ehlers (1977) and to me (Andersen 1984) that it was a hard decision and reveals an amazing discord at that time among Danish ophthalmologists. I had been Heerfordt's assistant in his office for 5 years, and I valued his intelligent and strange personality, not least his far-seeing thoughts and publications about the establishment of 'The United States of the European Nations' (Andersen 1984). Denmark's first female ophthalmologist, Estrid Hein (1873–1956) (Fig. 12), was among the Founder Members of the Ophthalmological Society. She was the mother of Piet Hein, and thus a kind of grandmother to his famous 'Grooks'; but she was more than that. Besides having a private eye clinic she was one of the members of the Executive Committee of the Royal Institute for the Blind and Director of the National Society for the Prevention of Cancer. Estrid Hein (photograph from Ögonläkarmötet Stockholm, 1900). The first conference was held in Stockholm in June 1900; subsequently in Copenhagen in 1903, 1907 in Oslo, 1911 in Helsinki, 1931 in Stockholm; and since then approximately every third year until 1938. They ceased during the Second World War and were revived in 1947 in Oslo. During the early years of the Society, the number of members was about 20 and slowly increasing. About a dozen members, most of them from Copenhagen, attended the meetings. The room at Kgs. Nytorv belonging to the Medical Society could accommodate them easily. It presented no problem to demonstrate patients and instruments. (For discussion about instruments, see Norn, this Supplement, p. 31). They had a pleasant time at the meetings, followed by open Danish sandwiches. Rules for the activities of specialists or recognition as a specialist did not exist at that time. The ophthalmological speciality was established in 1918 by the National Health Service, which had been established in Denmark in 1909. Danish ophthalmological research kept the flag flying for many years at a very high international level. Henning Trappaud Rønne (1878–1947) stood out very quickly (Fig. 13). A very fine and warm personal description of Henning Rønne was given by Mogens Fledelius in 1993. Rønne's love of ophthalmology was a burning flame throughout his life. The gold medal treatise in 1904 concerned congenital colour-blindness, a subject of continuing interest for Rønne. His doctoral thesis was a superior clinical and pathological study of alcoholic intoxication amblyopia (Rønne 1910). Rønne became most renowned in the wider world for his description of the 'nasal spring' in glaucoma (Rønne 1908) and for his protracted studies of the visual tracts' architecture (see Mellemgaard, this Supplements, p. 21, Fig. 4). By updating and quantifying the campimetry, he carried the torch further. Unlike Heerfordt, Rønne resigned from the Ophthalmological Society in 1929. He had – quite naturally – felt disappointment at the election of Lundsgaard as Professor of Ophthalmology in 1925. In 1929 Chr. F. Bentzen, and not Rønne, was elected Head of the Eye Department at the Kommunehospital in Copenhagen. Rønne then resigned. A few years later Rønne was elected Professor of Ophthalmology at the Rigshospital following Lundsgaard (see Fig. 20). To his great amusement, Rønne now had to apply for readmission as a member of the Society. He had now to await the ballot of the much younger members of the Society (Fig. 14). 'Henning Rønne at top speed' (drawing by Gustav Østerberg, from Andersen 1988, p 25). Reproduced with permission from the family. Henning Rønne (from a painting at the Rigshospital, Eye Department, Copenhagen). From my student days, I recall Rønne's rather categorical demonstration of 'gentle eye examination of small children'. A deadly frightened little child lay screaming during the whole session, pinned down by the arms of the head nurse, Miss Schroll. On 9 April 1940, the ophthalmologists at the Rigshospital had the following experience: they were summoned by Professor Rønne to a meeting in the library at 11 o'clock: 'We have a serious problem to discuss': all were naturally shocked at the German occupation of Denmark that morning, but they were informed during the meeting that Rønne's problem was the crossing of the visual paths in the chiasm. Rønne ended his long and brilliant career with 'The architecture of the human optic tracts', printed in the Festschrift of the University of Copenhagen (Rønne 1942). In the course of time, eye research in the Nordic countries became more international, particularly as a result of the establishment of Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica in 1923. This was a great leap forward. The Society jumped from a pupal stage to an internationally recognized English-language Scandinavian flagship. In addition to papers, summaries of important speeches and papers from the Ophthalmological Society were delivered. Since 1932, supplements including doctoral theses and other important treatises were also published in Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica. In return, the value of the proceedings in the Danish Ophthalmological Society with their Danish-language minutes diminished, and printing ceased in 1953. In the 1920s the number of members increased steadily. This led to the dominance of talks and lectures at the meetings, which gradually attracted a valuable accession of foreigners, especially from Southern Sweden. One of the most fascinating and charming guests from the other side of the Øresund belt was Professor Fritz Ask of Lund (Fig. 15). Fritz Ask was a weighty figure, both mentally and physically. He became a very inspirational guest and friend, with his great experience and humour. Lottrup-Andersen recounts that after a session in Copenhagen he had very great difficulty in pressing Ask's enormous bulk through the door of the cab. Ask cried out: 'I feel as if I should reenter my mother's body and be born again!' (Lottrup-Andersen 1952, p. 159). Fritz Ask (drawing by O. Antonsson, Sydsvenska Dagbladet Snällposten, from Lottrup-Andersen 1952, p. 207). The most international figure in the society was Danish-born Marius Tscherning (1854–1939) (Fig. 16). He divided his eventful life between Copenhagen and Paris. Tscherning was one of Grut's many brilliant students. In 1882, he had defended a remarkable doctoral thesis in Copenhagen, 'Studies of the ethiology and power of myopia', inspired by Grut. Tscherning had emphasized the great importance of reading to the frequency and power of myopia (Tscherning 1882) – a point of view which, after many years of denunciation, has now again come to the fore. Marius Tscherning (drawing by Leo Schiøtz Christensen, from Fledelius 1993). For about 25 years, from 1884 to 1910, Tscherning had been employed first as directeur adjoint (assistant), later as Director of the Ophthalmological Laboratory at the Sorbonne, the old centre of French science. In 1901 he had succeeded Louis Émile Javal, who had recommended him for the French Legion of Honour – a great international recognition of Tscherning's research. In 1909, the Danish expatriate Marius Tscherning was elected as an honorary member of the Danish Ophthalmological Society. The following year he returned to Denmark as Professor of Ophthalmology at the brand new Rigshospital, unopposed (Fig. 17). 'Tscherning takes the great step from Paris to Copenhagen' (drawing by Lottrup-Andersen 1952, p. 208). (Reproduced with permission from the family.) Next year, the choice for the Nobel Prize lay between Tscherning and the Swede Allvar Gullstrand. Both had worked for years on new designs for spectacle lenses. According to Tscherning's memoirs (Tscherning 1940), he had sketched his designs during a discussion at an international meeting in Utrecht in 1899, where Gullstrand was also present. Tscherning later produced a box of lenses made for himself according to his own calculations by the firm Benoist et Berthiot in Paris; but Tscherning did not publish his work. In a later book, published by Firma (and cited by Tscherning, 1940), 'the principle of Gullstrand' was praised to the skies. Tscherning protested and the Zeiss firm admitted the fault, but in scarcely comprehensible language. Meanwhile, Gullstrand received the Nobel Prize in 1911, and the Zeiss factories introduced the new lenses under the name of punctual lenses, which went from strength to strength all over the world. The curved lenses gained a foothold everywhere. The firm of Zeiss had more than once declared the problem solved correctly, before they got a grip on it (Tscherning 1940). Why Zeiss, and not a French factory? Tscherning admits that Zeiss was probably the only firm which had the prestige and courage to go through with the reform. Tscherning adds: 'Zeiss received, what was undoubtedly a bargain, Gullstrand received the Nobel Prize, and I – received the satisfaction of seeing my invention accepted all over the world.' and Gullstrand was silent, and remained silent! A judgement is difficult so many years after the event. I agree only partly with Poul Kjer (1993) and Mogens Norn (1995). They feel that Tscherning should without doubt have been given the prize. In my opinion Tscherning had probably deserved the prize; and Tscherning's moving and gentle report is touching to read. Marius Tscherning continued his research into physiological optics contemporaneously with his activities as a professor (Fig. 18). Professor Tscherning: 'Today I will show you extraction of cataract with loss of vitreous body'. One of the ophthalmologist J. Kjølbye's many wonderful caricatures (from Lottrup-Andersen 1952, p. 204). (Reproduced with permission from the family.) Even as Professor Emeritus, Marius Tscherning continued his research in the basement under the Eye Department of the Rigshospital, later called 'Tscherning's cellar'. During my appointment as Clinical Assistant at the Eye Department of the Rigshospital at the end of the 1940s, Professor Holger Ehlers set me the task of tidying-up Tscherning's cellar and of registering all the many scientific treasures. It was a difficult job, but both Ehlers and I felt that it was worth while. Many valuable instruments saw the light of day, including Tscherning's reconstruction of the brilliant Scottish scientist and doctor Thomas Young's ophthalmometer, and the Scotsman Reid's original keratometer. Ehlers and I have often tried these instruments on ourselves. During the removal to the new Rigshospital, these instruments and others seem to have disappeared, as did a large briefcase with all my numerous notes and drawings. However, much has been kept for posterity (Norn 1995). In 1947, the ophthalmologist Erik Godtfredsen wrote a comprehensive survey of all Danish ophthalmological doctoral theses over 112 years, a total of 58 – a great number in proportion to the relatively low number of ophthalmologists at that time. The considerable number of theses within the field of physiological optics (i.e. 15) reflects clearly the inspirational influence of Tscherning. Another frequent subject – retina and the visual tracts, a total of 11 – marks the great importance of Rønne's leadership. Godtfredsen clearly draws our attention to the fact that few of the theses reflect the international reputation of Danish ophthalmology at that time (Godtfredsen 1947). This fame was due rather to others' research studies, e.g. the campimetry by Bjerrum, Tscherning's physiological optics, Edmund Jensen's retino-chorioiditis juxtapapillaris, Heerfordt's studies of febris uveo-parotidea and Rønne's 'nasal step'. In the course of time, up to the Second World War, many advances in treatment and research in international ophthalmology occurred, including in Denmark. As for severe cases of uveitis, however, the only effective treatment was still intramuscular injections of milk, not always harmless. Hospitalization and close observation were always necessary because of the risk of shock (Fig. 19). Lottrup-Andersen performs parenteral injections of milk at the Ophthalmological Department of the Rigshospital (another wonderful drawing by Kjølbye, from Lottrup-Andersen 1952, p. 207). (Reproduced with permission from the family.) Lottrup-Andersen (1877–1959) was an ophthalmologist, a draftsman, a charming after-dinner speaker and author of the comprehensive jubilee publication of the Ophthalmological Society 50 years ago (Lottrup-Andersen 1952). Bovine tuberculosis was still a scourge in Denmark. In 1933 Olaf Blegvad presented 24 cases of human tuberculosis of the eyes in Denmark, four of which turned out to be of bovine type (Blegvad 1933) (Fig. 20). Blegvad urged fighting against this disease, and with good results. In 1959, tuberculosis among cattle was officially declared extinguished in Denmark. Olaf Blegvad (top right) among the five other candidates for the professorship in ophthalmology in Copenhagen in 1932. In addition, from top left: Henning Rønne and Harald Larsen. From below left: Hans Ulrik Møller, Carsten Edmund and Holger Ehlers (drawing by Gustav Østerberg, from Lottrup-Andersen 1952, p. 209). Reproduced with permission from the family. Sympathetic ophthalmia had become much more rare in Denmark after the First World War, but it was still a catastrophe. Salvarsan treatment was able to provide a short feeling of improvement, before the eye became blind. Operative treatment for detachment of the retina began to take shape slowly after Gonin pointed out the importance of treatment of the retinal tear. In Scandinavia, surgery was introduced in 1930 by Sven Larsson (1930); and the first operation in Denmark using this method was carried out by Hans Ulrik Møller in the same year, but without publication. In 1935, Holger Ehlers published a comprehensive paper on the use of Larsson's method in Denmark (Ehlers 1935). In the years following the Second World War, methods were modernized by Gerhard Rønne and particularly by Jens Edmund, the third generation of the Edmund (-Jensen) family. Jens Edmund became an esteemed member of the Gonin Club in 1961, and later President of the Club (1988–92). There was gradual specialization in Danish ophthalmology. Hans Ulrik Møller (1894–1954) had written a gold medal treatise and later a doctoral thesis in the field of dark adaptation, but his main contribution was in neuro-ophthalmology (Møller 1954). As Major Surgeon Commander at the Militærhospital in Copenhagen, he introduced and refined neuro-ophthalmological methods of investigation in Denmark. He was an unusually upright and fine personality, impressing all who were close to him (Fig. 20). The subspeciality of neuro-ophthalmology was carried further and fruitfully so by Børge Lawætz (1904–74) (Fig. 21). Børge Lawætz: 'The minimal-intensity' (a wonderful drawing by Gustav Østerberg, from Lottrup-Andersen 1952, p. 212). Reproduced with permission from the family. For years, solar eclipses have caused many serious lesions of the eyes, even in 'non-sunny' Denmark. In 1912, 143 cases of scotomas of the eyes occurred after a solar eclipse. A warning from Lundsgaard, Chairman of the Ophthalmologists' Society, to Ritzau's Bureau and to the press had the effect that very few eyes were damaged at the next solar eclipse 2 years later. After a violent solar eclipse in 1945, the numerous eye injuries were summed-up by K. Knudtson (1948). Information about future solar eclipses was followed-up later in a praiseworthy manner by John. Treatment of squint in Denmark was modernized radically in the 1940s by Gerhard Rønne (1912–60), a son of Henning Rønne. In 1950, a clinic for the squint-eyed was established with Gerhard Rønne as its head (Fig. 22). The brilliant orthoptist Eva Rindziunski was responsible for daily examinations and treatment, and in addition she wrote scientific papers together with Gerhard. Over the years, this subspeciality achieved a leading position in Scandinavia (Andersen 1994). Gerhard Rønne (from , p. 71). 'Young Henning Skydsgaard performs visual field standing on tiptoe' (1908–93) (Fig. 23). 'Young Henning Skydsgaard does visual field standing on tiptoe' (drawing by Gustav Østerberg, from , p. 23). Reproduc
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