Douglas Argyll Robertson

Douglas Moray Cooper Lamb Argyll Robertson FRSE (1837 – 3 January 1909) was a Scottish ophthalmologist and surgeon. Argyll Robertson pupil is named after him.^[1]

After earning his degree in 1857 from the University of St Andrews, he went to Berlin to study under Albrecht von Graefe (1828–1870). Robertson spent most of his medical career in Edinburgh as an eye surgeon at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and teacher of ophthalmology at the University of Edinburgh. For a while he was honorary eye physician to Queen Victoria and King Edward VII.

Robertson made several contributions in the field of ophthalmology; in 1863 he researched the effects on the eye made by physostigmine, an extract from the Calabar bean (Physostigma venenosum), which is found in tropical Africa. He correctly predicted that physostigmine would become very important in the treatment of eye disorders. He also described a symptom of neurosyphilis that affects the pupils of the eye, which is known today as Argyll Robertson pupils.

External sources

1. ^ Waterston, Charles D; Macmillan Shearer, A (July 2006). Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783-2002: Biographical Index. II. Edinburgh: The Royal Society of Edinburgh. ISBN 9780902198845. http://www.rse.org.uk/fellowship/fells_indexp2.pdf. Retrieved 22 March, 2011. 

• "Argyll Robertson". Doyne's Hall of Fame. http://www.mrcophth.com/ophthalmologyhalloffame/argyllrobertson.html. Retrieved 2007-11-11. 
• Power, Sir D'Arcy (2004). "Robertson, Douglas Moray Cooper Lamb Argyll (1837–1909)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. OUP. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/35778. Retrieved 2007-11-11 

Persondata
Name	Robertson, Douglas Moray Cooper Lamb Argyll
Alternative names
Short description	Scottish opthalmic surgeon
Date of birth	1837
Place of birth	Edinburgh
Date of death	1909-01-03
Place of death	Gondal, India