XVIII. On the adaptation of the human eye to varying distances

The following is a summary of the author’s views on the question:— 1. The eye is adapted to varying distances principally by an alteration in the fibrous arrangement of the lens itself. Moreover, that when the lens is removed after an operation for cataract, the power of adaptation is nearly lost, and can only be exerted within very confined distances. 2. That the purpose of focalizing light at short distances is doubtless assisted, as suggested by Bowman, by the contractions of the ciliary muscle, in its antero-posterior direction, bringing forward the ciliary processes.