Herman Snellen (1834-1908) and Müller's 'reform-auge'. A short history of the artificial eye.
The shell prothesis, originally meant to be placed over the atrophic eye, caused serious problems when used after enucleation, which became more common practice in the second half of the last century. In the nineties of the last century Snellen Sr. tried to solve these problems by designing a light prothesis that filled up the empty space. At the insistence of Snellen, the Müller brothers in Wiesbaden succeeded in 1892 to blow a hollow artificial eye which proved to be a real success.
den Tonkelaar
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F.C. Donders Institute of Ophthalmology, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Henkes
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van Leersum
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D005137:Eye, Artificial / Q000266:history*; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D009426:Netherlands; D009885:Ophthalmology / Q000266:history; D011474:Prosthesis Design / Q000266:history