Mr. Furnivall read a paper on “The Eye, and how we see.” After describing the structure of the human eye by the aid of diagrams and sketches on the black board, the lecturer referred to the means by which ranges rays of light pass through the cornea, aqueous humour,  and the crystalline lens, and how these ranges rays are refracted and brought to a focus on the retina by the wonderful self-adjusting power of the lens. The causes of long and short sight were explained – the former being due to a flattening of the lens and the gradual loss of power of accommodation incidental to old age, the latter being caused by abnormal convexity of the lens or the cornea. He also gave illustrations of “persistence of vision,” the appreciable duration of the vibrations set up in the retina by a ray of light, and in addition showed how bright colours will fatigue the retina even to blindness. A very interesting discussion followed, in which the chairman and Messrs. Armitage, Easterfield, and Stiles took part.

[The date of this meeting was Dec 5, 1886. The corrections noted above were made subsequent to the publication, and appear within the Minute book]