Lacrimal History – Part V: Doyens of Dacryology Series – Johann Christian Rosenmüller

In the fifth of the series of columns on the fascinating history of Dacryology, we visualize an ‘era of enlightenment’ in the history of lacrimal sciences spanning the later part of the 18th century and early part of the 19th century. Several major anatomical works with specific references to the lacrimal system were published. ‘Chirurgishe Wahrnemungen’, published in 1753 by Lorenz Heister, classified lacrimal disorders.¹ Johann Gottfried Zinn published his treatise ‘Descriptio Anatomica Oculi Humani’, in 1755.¹ Percivall Pott’s classic ‘Observations on that disorder on the corner of the eye commonly called fistula lacrimalis’ garnered due recognition following its publication in 1763.¹ The stage was set for another Doyen of Dacryology, Johann Christian Rosenmüller, to take the lacrimal sciences to the next orbit.

Johann Christian Rosemüller was born on the 25th of May 1771 in the Thuringia state of Germany. His father, Johann George Rosenmüller, was a Professor of Theology at the University of Leipzig, and his older sibling Ernst Friedrich Karl Rosenmüller, followed in the footsteps of their father.² Not much is known about his mother, nor did he get married. He completed his schooling in Thuringia (Erfurt), and at the age of 15 years, joined his father at the University of Leipzig. He graduated in 1792 and received his doctorate in 1797.^2,3 Rosenmüller was initially appointed at Leipzig as Anatomy prosector and a decade later, in 1802, as associate professor of Anatomy and Surgery. He worked as a full professor from 1804 to 1812, when he was appointed as a dean of the medical faculty, which he remained till his death in 1820.^2,3 Between 1816 and 1818, he was also the Rector of the University of Leipzig. He died at a young age of 48 years!

Rosenmüller was a polymath, and his significant contributions to science, besides medicine, included the fields of Speleology (study of caves) and Paleontology (study of fossils) (Table 1). His authoritative works on caves in the Bavarian areas, including the description of Rosenmüller’s cave or Rosenmüllerhohle, are widely appreciated by Speleologists.^2,3 His work with fossil bones of an extinct species led to the description of a new subspecies of cave bear called Ursus spelaeus Rosenmüller. ^2,4

Table 1. Johann Christian Rosenmüller’s major contributions to science.

1. Description of the ‘Fossa of Rosenmüller’

2. Description of the ‘Valve of Rosenmüller’

3. Description of the ‘Rosenmüller Gland’

4. Description of the ‘Organ of Rosenmüller’

5. Description of the Horner-Duverney Muscle

6. Description of the Human Embryos

7. Description of a new subspecies ‘Ursus spelaeus Rosenmüller’ or cave bear.

8. Description of Rosenmüllerhöhle or Rosenmüller’s cave

Among the Rosenmüller eponyms, the most widely known is his description of the ‘fossa of Rosenmüller’ in 1808, which is a pharyngeal recess in the nasopharynx and the most common site of the origin of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. His other eponymous descriptions include that of the palpebral lobe of the lacrimal gland (Rosenmüller gland) and caudal remnants of the mesonephric ducts (Organ of Rosenmüller).²

Amongst his several published works, the most prominent include ‘Handbuch der Anatomie’(1815 and 1819), and ‘Chirurgisch-anatomische Abbildungen für Aerzte und Wundärzte’ (1804).² He also edited notable anatomy works like those of Alexander Monro and Charles Bell. His immense contributions to the ocular and lacrimal drainage anatomy can be gauged by his authoritative works ‘Partium externarum oculi humani inprimis lacrymalium descriptio anatomica iconibus illustrata’ and ‘Organic lacrimalis pretiumque externum oculi humanos descriptio anatomica’, published in 1797 and loosely translated as ‘A description of the external anatomy of the human eyes and lacrimation’.^1,2 It is in this text that we find the first description of the valve at the junction of the common canaliculus and the lacrimal sac, which was later eponymously named valve of Rosenmüller. The valve was described in his cadaveric dissections to be located at the superior border of the canaliculus-lacrimal sac junction.^5,6 Several cadaveric, radiological, and histological studies that followed for more than a century remained inconclusive until the first direct real-time endoscopic (2020) and dacryoendoscopic (2022) visualization demonstrated it in action and deciphered its subtypes.^5,7 In 1805, Rosenmüller published illustrations describing the Horner’s muscle, long before its description by Horner in 1822.⁸ The Horner’s muscle is critical for the function of the lacrimal pump, which helps drain tears from the ocular surface into the nasal cavity. The muscle is now called the ‘Horner-Duverney’ muscle in recognition of its first description by French anatomist ‘Jacques-Francois-Marie Duverney (1661–1748).^8,9 Although the recognition for the description of this muscle is now rightly shared, the contributions of Rosenmüller’s description should not be forgotten.

Johann Christian Rosenmüller’s descriptions of the lacrimal drainage system anatomy continue to hold high value in our understanding of its anatomy and physiology, more than a century after their descriptions. Many of these descriptions can be found in his major treatise published in German and their various reproductions and translations. The significant and multifaceted contributions of Johann Christian Rosenmüller to science, despite his short life span of 48 years, are truly remarkable and leave one in awe.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Hyderabad Eye Reasearch Foundation (MJA).