An Accommodation Phenomenon

The classical literature on accommodation is limited chiefly to the mechanism by which it is accomplished in the eye.1Fincham has re-examined the older concepts and made certain revisions in an exhaustive monograph on the subject.2Most of the recent work on accommodation is limited to such problems as the relationship between accommodation and convergence.3The central origin of the efferent impulse is generally ascribed to the Edinger-Westphal nucleus, and a summary of the recent electrophysiologic localization is given by Jampel,4who found a cerebral location for stimulating the entire near response. Why does one accommodate? Is it the imperfection of a poorly focused image on the cerebral cortex which gives rise to the accommodation act? If this were the case the perception of a blurred picture where one should expect a clear picture would give rise to volitional efforts whereby, through the accommodation mechanism, a