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The Royal Society: Science in the Making

Unpublished paper, 'Description of a muscle of the striped variety situated at the posterior part of the choroid coat of the eye in mammals, with an explanation of its mode of action in adapting the eye to distinct vision at different distances' by George Rainey

Reference number: AP/33/23

Date: 1850

Description

Rainey observes that this muscle occupies about the posterior two-thirds of the choroid coat, its fibres lying in different planes, the most superficial being immediately beneath the membrana pigmenti, the deepest extending almost as far as the vasa vorticosa. He notes that these fibres pass in different directions, some going from before to behind, and others intersecting these at various angles. Altogether they receive the pigment membrane, the retina and the vitreous humour as into a cup. From the connection of these fibres with the choroid coat, Rainey calls them the choroid muscle. He has not been able to trace them nearer to the ciliary ligament than about two-thirds of the distance from the centre of the choroid to the border of the cornea, in which situation the fasciculi become broken up, and gradually degenerate into filamentous tissue. No striped fibres can be detected in the so-called ciliary muscle or ligament. Rainey considers these to be merely for the purpose of connecting the sclerotic and choroid anteriorly, as these tunics are also connected by cellular tissue posteriorly, but very loosely in their middle.

Marked on front as 'Withdrawn for publication by the author'. Includes one diagram in the text of the eyeball and two plates showing the muscle and a plan of the eyeball.

Subject: Anatomy / Physiology / Optometry

Received 24 December 1850. Read 30 January 1851. Communicated by Joseph Henry Green.

Whilst the Royal Society declined to publish this paper in full, an abstract of the paper was published in volume 6 of Abstracts of the Papers Printed in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London [later Proceedings of the Royal Society] as 'Description of a muscle of the striped variety, situated at the posterior part of the choroid coat of the eye in mammals, with an explanation of its mode of action in adapting the eye to distinct vision at different distances'.

Reference number
AP/33/23
Earliest possible date
1850
Physical description
Ink on paper
Page extent
24 pages
Format
Drawing
Diagram
Manuscript

Creator name

George Rainey

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Citation

George Rainey, Unpublished paper, 'Description of a muscle of the striped variety situated at the posterior part of the choroid coat of the eye in mammals, with an explanation of its mode of action in adapting the eye to distinct vision at different distances' by George Rainey, 1850, AP/33/23, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/ap_33_23/unpublished-paper-description-of-a-muscle-of-the-striped-variety-situated-at-the-posterior-part-of-the-choroid-coat-of-the-eye-in-mammals-with-an-explanation-of-its-mode-of-action-in-adapting-the-eye-to-distinct-vision-at-different-distances-by-george-rainey, accessed on 10 December 2024

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https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/ap_33_23/unpublished-paper-description-of-a-muscle-of-the-striped-variety-situated-at-the-posterior-part-of-the-choroid-coat-of-the-eye-in-mammals-with-an-explanation-of-its-mode-of-action-in-adapting-the-eye-to-distinct-vision-at-different-distances-by-george-rainey

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    Dates: 1768-1989

    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.

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