Unpublished paper, 'Observations on single vision with two eyes' by T [Thomas] Wharton Jones

Description

Jones argues against an earlier theory of vision, namely that single vision should be dependent on the images of objects falling on corresponding points of the two retinae. He maintains that, under these circumstances, the two impressions are not perceived by the mind at the same instant of time, but sometimes the one and sometimes the other. If one impression is much stronger than the other, the former predominates over, or even excludes the other; but still the appearance resulting from the predominating image is nevertheless in some manner influenced by that which is not perceived. He supposes that there are compartments of the two retinae, having certain limits, of which any one point or papilla of the one corresponds with any one point of the other, so that impressions on them are not perceived separately. Jones considers that this hypothesis, combined with the principle above stated, is required, in order to explain the phenomena in question.

Annotations in pencil throughout.

Subject: Optometry

Received 30 November 1839. Read 12 December 1839. Communicated by Richard Owen.

Whilst the Royal Society declined to publish this paper in full, an abstract of the paper was published in volume 4 of Abstracts of the Papers Printed in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London [later Proceedings of the Royal Society] as 'Observations on single vision with two eyes'.

Reference number

AP/23/33

Earliest possible date

November 1839

Physical description

Ink and graphite pencil on paper

Page extent

19 pages

Format

Manuscript