The properties of this lens are described in one of a number of set problems or puzzles in the 1853 "Cambridge and Dublin Mathematical Journal". The challenge is to find the refractive index as a function of radius, given that a ray describes a circular path, and further to prove the focusing properties of the lens. The solution is given in the 1854 edition of the same journal. The problems and solutions were originally published anonymously, but the solution of this problem (and one other) were included in Niven's "The Scientific Papers of James Clerk Maxwell", which was published 11 years after Maxwell's death.