Retinal insensibility to ultra-violet and infra-red rays / by L. Webster Fox and Geo. M. Gould.

  • Fox, Lawrance Webster, 1853-1931.
Date:
1886
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Retinal insensibility to ultra-violet and infra-red rays / by L. Webster Fox and Geo. M. Gould. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    5/22
    RETINAL INSENSIBILITY TO ULTRA VIOLET AND INFRA-RED RAYS. BY L. AVEBSTER FOX, M. D., AND GEO. M. GOULD, A. B. We have received from numerous friends and correspondents many queries concerning the questions discussed in our articles in the July and September numbers of this journal, and they are nearly all connected with an indistinctness or entire misap- prehension of the real character and extent of the relative ener- gies of different parts of the spectrum; there appears to be a want of clearness as to the essential nature of the retinal stim- ulus, and this indefiniteness seems to sum itself up in the ques- tion, ‘Why does the retina fail to respond to the ultrawiolet and the infra-red ethereal vibrations ?” To avoid the labor of re- peating much the same answer to many, we beg the reader to ex- cuse the intrusion of another communication in which we desire to give a resume of relevant facts, and such hints of explanation as with the existing state of science seem possible. Limits of Ethereal Wave-lengths that Have been Studied. A glance at Fig. I1 shows the measurements of the waves that IThe illustrative cuts accompanying this article areiprinted from plates kindly loaned us by Prof. Langley and the proprietors of the American Journal of Science. Our indebtedness to Prof. Langley and his most val- uable researches is too evident to require notice. But our own gratitude to that eminent scientist is only a small fraction of that given him by science-lovers in general and light-students in particular.