ILLUSTRATIONS OF CENTRAL ATROPHY AFTER 

 EYE INJURIES. 



IVith Plate 1. 



C. L. Herrick. 



In the present paper it is not hoped to add anything new 

 to the vast and daily augmenting Hterature of the visual connec- 

 tions but simply to place in accessible form some data accumu- 

 lated, with the hope of ultimately making a careful study of the 

 peripheral connections and particularly the central mechanism 

 of accommodation. The difficulty of finding figures illustrating 

 the actual results of the atrophies due to the destruction of the 

 eye has disposed us to print our own diagrams with a running 

 commentary. The material consists of serial sections of the 

 brain of two rabbits whose eyes were operated on shortly after 

 birth and before the eyes had opened. Series 292 is from a 

 rabbit operated on August 25th, the right eye being removed. 

 Killed November ist, when nearly full grown. Series 297 is 

 from a rabbit from which the left eye was removed September 

 19th, being then one day old. It was killed December 19th. 

 As these brains were intended to compare with control series of 

 normal brains and were to be used primarily in the study of the 

 cells, etc., they were stained with sublimate hematoxylin and 

 fuchsin. In both cases the loss of vision was complete and the 

 wound closed by first intention without suppuration, though in 

 one the globe of the eye and the muscular attachments were 

 less completely destroyed than in the other. Unfortunately 

 there was no opportunity for careful post-mortem examination of 

 these conditions which can be inferred from the state of atrophy 

 found in the sections. It will be seen that the atrophy m the 

 optic tracts was much more complete in No. 297, that is in the 

 one operated upon within 24 hours after birth, than in the other 

 which was operated upon a few days later. We begin with No. 

 292, commencing behind the chiasm. The optic tract on the right; 



