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Unpublished paper, 'On recrossed vision - being the description of a distinct tribe of ocular phenomena, supplementary to a rationale of the laws of cerebral vision' by John Fearn

Reference number: AP/15/4

Date: 08 September 1830

Description

Fearn describes the phenomenon of recrossed vision, where an object placed between the eyes at close range is viewed as being on the left by the right eye and on the right by the left eye. Fearn explores the brain's role in the practical function of the eyes and perception. Includes one separate page of illustrations.

Subject: Physiology

Communicated by John Grover. Read to the Royal Society on 16 June 1831.

Whilst the Royal Society declined to publish this paper in full, an abstract of the paper was published in volume 3 of Abstracts of the Papers Printed in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London [later Proceedings of the Royal Society] as 'On recrossed vision; being the description of a distinct tribe of ocular phenomena, supplementary to a rationale of the laws of cerebral vision, recently published'.

Reference number
AP/15/4
Earliest possible date
08 September 1830
Physical description
Ink on paper
Page extent
13 pages
Format
Manuscript

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Citation

Unpublished paper, 'On recrossed vision - being the description of a distinct tribe of ocular phenomena, supplementary to a rationale of the laws of cerebral vision' by John Fearn, 08 September 1830, AP/15/4, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/ap_15_4/unpublished-paper-on-recrossed-vision-being-the-description-of-a-distinct-tribe-of-ocular-phenomena-supplementary-to-a-rationale-of-the-laws-of-cerebral-vision-by-john-fearn, accessed on 10 August 2026

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  • Archived Papers

    The 'Archived Papers' collection is comprised of original manuscript scientific papers and letters submitted to the Royal Society which remained unpublished or were abstracted in the journal 'Proceedings of the Royal Society' published from 1830 onwards.

    Dates: 1768 - 1989

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