114 SPECIAL SENSES. 



believes that some aphakial eyes acquire accommodative 

 power, which is necessarily brought about through the agency 

 of four factors ; namely, the cornea, the vitreous, the action 

 of the ciliary muscle and its effect on the bottom of the eye, 

 and, finally, the effect of the external muscles of the globe. 

 Woinow eliminates, from this group, the cornea, while Fors- 

 ter makes it the chief, if not the sole agent. In two cases, 

 Woinow was able to observe the reflections from the ante- 

 rior surface of the vitreous humor, which, in the absence of 

 the lens, was convex, as was shown by the image being up- 

 right. These reflections were too weak to be measured by 

 the optometer ; but they were seen to become smaller when 

 efforts were made to see at close distances. 



"It is to be regretted, and it certainly appears a little 

 strange, that, in neither Forster's nor Woinow's cases, was 

 either the optometer or ophthalmoscope used in the elucida- 

 tion of this problem. But, while Woinow's cases are, as he 

 himself says, not conclusive, yet they seem, like Arlt's, Fors- 

 ter's, and the one just related, to substantiate the view that 

 occasionally a considerable, if not a large degree of accom- 

 modation may exist, even in a lensless eye." 



