Desk of Dr. Franciscus (or Frans) Cornelis Donders

This carved wooden desk belonged to Franciscus Donders (1818-1889), one of the founders of modern ophthalmology. The desk includes engravings of early Dutch physician Herman Boerhaave (1668-1738) and early Dutch microbiologist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723). This desk, as well as the marble bust of von Graefe across the hall, were obtained by Dr Raymond Pfeiffer in the 1930’s from the widow of a professor of physiology at the University of Berlin who had been Donders’ student. (Pfeiffer {1901-2002}, the first graduate of the Institute’s residency in 1933, was a renowned orbital surgeon, and the first to fully describe orbital landmarks seen on XRays).

Donders studied at the academy in Utrecht, until earning his MD from the University of Leiden in 1840. In 1842 he was appointed a teacher of anatomy, histology and physiology at Utrecht eventually becoming “professor extraordinarius”.

Donders is universally considered a pioneer in ophthalmology and enjoyed a worldwide reputation. He is credited with formulating foundational ophthalmic concepts and developing many ophthalmic devices. Some of his groundbreaking work includes:

• Creation of a functioning eye movement model, an “ophthalmotrope,” in 1845 (present across the hall in the artifacts case) after Theodore Ruete’s initial invention.
• After von Helmholtz introduced the ophthalmoscope in 1854, Donders used the new instrument to investigate the dioptrics of the eye for the first time.
• Von Graefe introduced instrumentation to determine eye pressure in 1862, and Donders followed with further models, coining the term “ophthalmotonometer" in 1863.
• In 1864, he published a seminal treatise, “Anomalies of Refraction and Accommodation".
• He was the first to recommend ocular massage for glaucoma, in 1872.
• Eponyms associated with him include:
  • Donders’ curve of accommodation
  • Donders’ simple glaucoma
  • Donders’ Rings in glaucoma
  • Donders’ law of rotation of the eyeballs
  • Donders’ scheme to measure the pressure of the post-mortem thorax

    

The Donders Collection includes extensive writings, letters and photographs, much of which is housed in the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center Archives and Special Collections section of the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library, located in the Armand Hammer Health Sciences Center at 701 West 168th St.