From these various points we thınk we might deduct that convergence of the
eyes is an inborn property, connected with “viewing” at something or “focusing”
at something. But it is an error too if one thinks that with binocular vision each
eye performs the same action as with monocular vision, that is to say, that a direct
relation exists between the image that our right eye catches and the reflected
image which our brain makes of it and which appears in our world of observation
before our right eye.
The next experiment serves to illustrate this.
Experiment 3 (fig. II).
. We take a ruler and put it straight before us against our nose, between both
eyes.
We now perceive two rulers in a position dependent on the point we focus.
Both the rulers *in appearance" are directed towards our point of observation and
moreover lie approximately in the line of our eye-axes ?).
But if we blink in turn then the left ruler seems to disappear when closing
the right eye, and the right ruler when closing the left eye. So it is obvious to
assume that the right eye projects the ruler mentally near the left eye-axis and
that the left eye does the same near the right eye-axis.
The reciprocal relation we know of viewing with one eye appears not to
exist with binocular vision, that is to say the image which is projected near our
left eye in our field of observation originates from the right retinal image and
reversely.
This experiment itself is extremely important, for it is evident now that we
see projected nearly on both eye-axes an object which lies in the angle of our
eye-axes.
We shall show how this property again solves difficulties with stereoscopic
vision.
Perhaps one is inclined to doubt the existence of that relation between
both eyes and therefore we make the following experiment.
Experiment 4 (fig. IIT).
We take a stereoscope either with or without magnifying glasses and put a
coin under one of the glasses. Soon we shall perceive that only one of the eyes can
see that coin directly and that only one of the eyes receives a retinal image.
Another person now can indicate the coin itself as well as the place in which
the person looking through the stereoscope, sees tie coin, but he can indicate it
also under the other glass, where there is nothing, and the observer “sees” it
essentially and completely in the same shape and position as he observed it the
first time under the other glass. So it is a fact that an action of our brain can
cause the broadcasting of our mental image originating from the retina of the
other eye.
But this experiment teaches us something more, viz. when our right eye is
better than the left one and we have put the coin under the good right eye, then
!) We will speak in this article of the “eye-axis”, whereas this is an optical definition.
In reality the axes mentioned in this article and fig. II originate from points not far from the
eyes and differ slightly for different persons.
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