Comparative ophthalmic pathology

Historically, in the latter part of the 19th and early 20th century, great achievements in comparative pathology were made by Jenner, Pasteur, Calmette, Guerin, Osler, Rous, Shope, and others who made important contributions to human medicine through the study of animal diseases. Then followed a half century during which, for a variety of reasons, comparative pathology was ignored. However, in the past 15 yr, there has been a renewal of interest and a rise in the quality of research. Still, comparative pathology probably had its beginning with the regulations concerning meat inspection in the Babylonian Empire of Hammurabi about 2100 B.C. Its next mention in history is with regard to the first and perhaps largest of all government research grants to be awarded: that given by Alexander the Great to Aristotle in 350 B.C., when he commissioned him 'to learn the nature of animals.... For this end he placed at his disposal some thousands of men in every part of Asia and Greece among them hunters, scholars, park keepers, herdsmen, bee wards, as well as keepers of fish ponds and aviaries in order that no creature might escape his notice. The importance of this type of investigation continues. Rene Dubois stated, 'if we look carefully enough, we will eventually find an animal model for every disease'. This applies to ophthalmology as well.