Unpublished paper, 'Ocular spectres, structures and functions mutual exponents' by James Jago

Description

Jago writes that 'our visual organs are not only capable, by an adjusting lenticular system, of painting, under varying conditions, images of luminous objects, upon a membrane in special relation with the brain, but involve many adjuvant structures; and thus it happens that they reveal to us a number of adventitious phenomena -- spectres as we may call them, whether caused by light at the parts that cover the eyeballs, or within them, or by any stimulus whatever affecting the special nervous tract. These must be eliminated, if we would avoid the risk of ascribing effects begotten by subordinate parts to more integral portions of the apparatus'. He sets out to explore these 'spectres'.

Marked on front as 'Archives'. Includes four pages of figures.

Subject: Optics / Physiology

Received 12 January 1857 / 22 August 1857.

Whilst the Royal Society declined to publish this paper in full, an abstract of the paper was published in volume 8 of the Proceedings of the Royal Society as 'Ocular spectres, structures and functions, mutual exponents'.

Reference number

AP/40/1

Earliest possible date

1857

Physical description

Ink and graphite pencil on paper

Page extent

78 pages

Format

Drawing
Manuscript