Postage stamps of ophthalmological interest.

POSTAGE stamps of ophthalmological interest include portrait figures of two practising ophthalmologists, Ferdinand Ritter von Arlt (1812-87) and Franz Cornelius Donders (1818-89). Four further portrait figures of scientists who have directly or indirectly contributed greatly to ophthalmology are shown in the stamps commemorating Johannes Evangelista Purkinje (1787-1869), Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-93), Gregor Johann Mendel (1822-84), and Ramon y Cajal (1852-1934). Practising ophthalmologists who have gained distinction in other spheres of life are commemorated in stamps showing Carlos Juan Finlay (1833-1915), a pioneer in the conquest of yellow fever; Lazarus Ludwig Zamenhof (1859-1917), the inventor of Esperanto; and Jose Rizal (1861-96), who died in the cause of Philippine independence. The XV International Congress of Ophthalmology held in Cairo in 1937 was commemorated by a suitable polyglot stamp.