The drug is often replaced in ophthalmology by homatropine - an alkaloid prepared from tropine - which acts similarly to atropine but has the advantage of allowing the ocular changes to pass away in a much shorter time.

In 1853 he was appointed teacher of ophthalmology in Berlin university; in 1858 he became extraordinary professor, and in 1866 ordinary professor.

The adjective "synechological" is used in the same general sense; "synechology" is a theory of continuity or universal causation; "synechia" is a term in ophthalmology for a morbid union of parts.

After prosecuting his studies at Berlin, Vienna, Prague, Paris, London, Dublin and Edinburgh, and devoting special attention to ophthalmology he, in 1850, began practice as an oculist in Berlin, where he founded a private institution for the treatment of the eyes, which became the model of many similar ones in Germany and Switzerland.

Grafe contributed largely to the progress of the science of ophthalmology, especially by the establishment in 1855 of his Archiv fiir Ophthalmologie, in which he had Ferdinand Arlt (1812-1887) and F.