“I say that vision occurs when the image of the whole hemisphere of the world that is before the eye is fixed on the reddish white concave surface of the retina. How the image or picture is composed by visual spirits that reside in the retina and the optic nerve, and whether it is made to appear before the soul or the tribunal of the visual faculty by a spirit within the hollows of the brain or whether the visual faculty like a magistrate sent by the soul goes forth from the administrative chamber of the brain into the optic nerve and the retina to meet the image, as though descending to a lower court – this I leave to be disputed by the physicists.” (

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Scientists at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute have combined tiny particles of cobalt or magnetite with a silicone based fluid that has magnetic properties and can be injected into the eye. By using a magnetic band placed around the eye the magnetic nature of the fluid could assist in maintaining retinal reattachment. Thus far, the material has only been tested in glass eyeballs and is just now undergoing in vitro toxicity testing. The scientists, however, insist that animal …