SYMPATHETIC ACTION IN ACCOMMODATION FOR FAR VISION

Abstract

Stimulation of the sympathetic nerve or superior cervical sympathetic ganglion in the rabbit, cat and dog gives marked increase in hypermetropia (flattening of the lens) whether the eye is atropinized, the 3d nerve is intact or cut, or whether pressure effects on the eyeball are eliminated by cutting the majority of the extrinsic muscles. Removing the superior cervical sympathetic ganglion in the one cat so operated led to permanent decrease in hypermetropia in the corresponding eye. Stimulation of the oculomotor nerve in the rabbit and cat gives marked myopia whether the sympathetic is intact or cut. Accommodation of the eye for near and far vision presumably involves reciprocal action of the sympathetic and 3d nerves.