Ein direkter Beweis für die Fähigkeit einzelner Sehzellen des Insektenauges, die Schwingungsrichtung polarisierten Lichtes zu analysieren

SummaryAction potentials from single visual cells of the compound eye are lead off during illumination of the retina of Calliphora erythrocephala by means of intracellular capillary microelectrodes. The size of the monophasic and depolarizing action-potentials depends on light-intensity and on plane of polarized light. Turning the plane of polarization from maximum to minimum efficacy equals a decrease of intensity of about 50%. As the dioptric apparatus is optically isotropic, the experiments described here prove the hypothesis of Autrum and Stumpf, namely that the single visual cell responds to different planes of polarization with different states of excitation.