logologo-optometry

Winters Schiotz tonometer (Improved)

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Catalogue Number: 2888
Winters Schiotz tonometer (Improved)
Category: Equipment
Sub-Category: Tonometer
Designer/inventor: SCHIOTZ, Hjalmar August
Year Of Publication/Manufacture: 1976
Time Period: 1940 to 1999
Place Of Publication/Manufacture: Jungingen, Germany
Publisher/Manufacturer: Joseph Winter OHG
Description Of Item: Schiotz tonometer, in a grey case, 160 x 75 x 25 mm, lined with red velvet, with a spring loaded hinged lid, identified on the top of the lid in silver lettering 'WINTERS / TONOMETER / SCHIOETZ - TONOMETER / IMPROVED '. The lining of the inside of the lid forms a pocket, which contains (1) a certificate of accuracy on green folded card ink stamped 'KORREKT' and date stamped in red '8 DEC 1976' and signed by the tester. (2) a calibration scale on folded yellow card translating the tonometer scale readings to intra-ocular pressure in mmHg for each of the 4 weights, with instructions for use on the back in German and English, and (3) a folded flyer for Josef Winter Company and its tonometer in three languages. The instrument has a rounded tilted scale and a red tipped pointed to make scale reading easier.
Historical Significance: This tonometer was invented by Hjalmar August Schi?tz in 1905 and was the standard tonometer for over 50 years, until it was superseded by the applanation tonometer devised by Hans Goldmann (1899-1991) in 1954. Schiotz (1850-1927) was born in Stavanger, Norway. He graduated in Medicine in 1877 in Khristiania. He studied ophthalmology in Vienna, where he became a friend of Ernst Fuchs (1851-1930), and in Paris, where he was employed as "directeur adjoint" in the ophthalmologic laboratory at the Sorbonne under Louis ?mile Javal. They developed the ophthalmometer named for them in 1880. In 1881 he became an assistant at the surgical department of the Rikshospitalet in Kristiania and he established a private practice as an eye specialist. He distinguished himself in his work to introduce asepsis in Norway. He was appointed professor of medicine with the obligation to teach eye medicine in 1901. Schi?tz demonstrated his tonometer in The Norwegian Medical Society (Det norske medicinske Selskab) in 1905 and for the next half century the Schi?tz tonometer was generally accepted as a reliable means of measuring intraocular pressure. H. A. Schi?tz: Et nyt tonometer, tonometri. Norsk Magazin for L?gevidenskaben, Kristiania, 1905, 5th series, volume 3: 597-622. H. A. Schi?tz: Archiv fur Augenheilkunde, Wiesbaden,1905: 401-424. Winter OHG was founded on 1st October 1931 by 3 brothers Eugen, Heinrich and Willi Winter, with the aim to produce and distribute various meteorological instruments and turned its attention to making flight instruments. In the information provided with this instrument by the manufacturer, it is stated that Winter has been making tonometers for 50 years. The company became Josef Winter and is now known as Winter Instruments. It is and was located in Jungingen, in the south of Germany.
How Acquired: Donated by Estate of William Cooper, via Peter Lewis
Condition: Excellent
Location: Archive room. East wall Unit 3 Cupboard

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