Fig. 28.--Horizontal cross section through the right eyeball. (Figure text: cornea, ciliary muscle, retina, choroid. sclerotic, Optic Nerve)
The eye is an optical instrument, like the camera. In fact, it is a camera, the sensitive plate being the retina, which differs indeed from the ordinary photographic plate in recovering after an exposure so as to be ready for another. Comparing the eye with the camera, we see that the eyeball corresponds to the box, the outer tough coat [{194}] of the eyeball (the "sclerotic" coat) taking the place of the wood or metal of which the box is built, and the deeply pigmented "choroid" coat, that lines the sclerotic, corresponding to the coating of paint used to blacken the inside of the camera box and prevent stray light from getting in and blurring the picture. At the front of the eye, where light is admitted, the sclerotic is transformed into the transparent "cornea", and the choroid into the contractile "iris", with the hole in its center that we call "the pupil of the eye".
Fig. 29.--Diagram to show the course of the sound waves through the outer and middle ear and into the inner ear. The arrow is placed within the "meatus," and points in the direction taken by the sound waves. See text for their further course. (Figure text: cochlea, vestibule, semicircular canal, ossicles, Eustachian, ear drum)
The iris corresponds to the adjustable diaphragm of the camera. Just behind the pupil is the lens of the eye, which also is adjustable by the action of a little muscle, called the "ciliary muscle". This muscle corresponds to the focussing mechanism of the camera; by it the eye is focussed on near or far objects. The eye really [{195}] has two lenses, for the cornea acts as a lens, but is not adjustable. The "aqueous and vitreous humors" fill the eyeball and keep it in shape, while still, being transparent, they allow the light to pass through them on the way to the retina. The retina is a thin coat, lying inside the choroid at the back of the eyeball, and having the form of a hollow hemisphere. The light, coming through the pupil and traversing the vitreous humor, strikes the retina from the inside of the eyeball. Other accessory apparatus of the eye includes the lids, the tear glands, and the muscles that turn the eyeball in any direction.
Fig. 30.--Two views of the internal ear. These views show the shape of the internal ear cavity. The sense organs lie inside this cavity. Notice how the three semi-circular canals lie in three perpendicular planes. (Figure text: cochlea, vestibule, 3 Canals)