Early descriptions of Horner's muscle and the lacrimal pump

Abstract

Horner's muscle (musculus orbicularis oculi pars lacrimalis or tensor tarsi) was first discovered by the French anatomist and surgeon, Jacques-François-Marie Duverney. In 1730 his student, Johann Caspar Schobinger, gave priority to Duverney and postulated muscular aid in an active drainage of tears. In 1745 Duverney first published his own anatomic description and the first illustration of this muscle. Credit for J.-F.-M. Duverney's discovery has often been erroneously given to his older brother, Joseph-Guichard Duverney. Subsequent anatomic descriptions by Johann Rosenmüller, William Horner, and others also included hypotheses about the physiology of a lacrimal pump. More recent theories about a lacrimal pump, such as those of Adler, Jones, Doane, and others, have their origins in these earlier writings.