Longitudinal chromatic aberration of the vertebrate eye.

A recent study involving Abbe and Pulfrich refractometry analyses the dispersion of the human lens and the ocular media of a number of vertebrates. In general, the lens and, to a lesser extent, the cornea, are more dispersive than expected at wavelengths below 500 nm. The dispersion findings of this study were used in conjunction with reduced eye parameters of a number of vertebrates to calculate the longitudinal chromatic aberration of rock bass, frog, chicken, rat, cat, pig, cow, and human eyes. The calculated chromatic aberration of the human eye is greater than values reported earlier, because of the exaggerated dispersion of the lens at short wavelengths. While the values calculated for the additional species studies may be larger in some instances than expected, presumably due to lens dispersion as well, chromatic aberration is not large enough to account for the hyperopia found by retinoscopic study of small eyes.