# Better Eyesight, November 1925

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE PREVENTION AND CURE OF IMPERFECT SIGHT WITHOUT GLASSES

## MOVING

THE world moves. Let it move. People are moving all day long. It is normal, right, proper that they should move. Just try to keep your head, or one finger, one toe, stationary, or keep your eyes open continuously. If you try to stare at a small letter or a part of it without blinking, note what happens. Most people who have tried it discover that the mind wanders, the vision becomes less, pain and fatigue are produced.
Stand facing a window and note the relative position of a curtain cord to the background. Take a long step to the right. Observe that the background has become different. Now take a long step to the left. The background has changed again. Avoid regarding the curtain cord. While moving from side to side, it is possible to imagine the cord moving in the opposite direction. By practice one becomes able to imagine stationary objects not seen to be moving as continuously, as easily, as objects in the field of vision.
Universal Swing: When one becomes able to imagine all objects seen, remembered, or imagined, to be moving with a slow, short, easy swing, this is called the Universal Swing. It is a very desirable thing to have, because when it is imagined with the eyes closed or open, one cannot simultaneously imagine pain, fatigue, or imperfect sight. The Universal Swing can be obtained without one being conspicuous. With the hand covered, move the thumb from side to side about one-quarter of an inch, and move the eyes with the thumb. Stationary objects can be imagined to be moving.
When walking rapidly forward, the floor or the sidewalk appears to move backward. It is well to be conscious of this imagined movement. Never imagine stationary objects to be stationary. To do this, is a strain, a strain which lowers the vision.

## CENTRAL FIXATION

By W. H. BATES, M.D. CENTRAL Fixation: The letter or part of the letter regarded is always seen best. With normal vision, a letter or an object cannot be seen clearly or perfectly unless one sees a part of the letter or object best, or better than all other parts. Central Fixation is passive. We do not see by any effort. Things are seen, one part best. Furthermore, it is a condition of relaxation of the eye or mind obtained without any effort.
The normal eye with normal sight is always at rest. Nothing is done. No effort is made. Many cases of imperfect sight have been cured when no efforts were made to see. One cannot relax by working hard, straining, nor obtain rest of the eyes or mind by the help of a strain. When the eyes are normal, they are at rest. When they are imperfect, they are always under a strain. Central Fixation should not be confused with concentration, which is defined by the dictionary to mean an effort to keep the eyes or mind continuously on one point only, and to ignore all other points.
Try it. Look directly, for example, at the point of the notch on the upper right corner of the large letter C on the Snellen card. Keep the eyes open without blinking. In a few seconds, or part of a minute, the mind begins to tire from the monotony. An effort is made to hold the concentration. The effort increases with discomfort or pain. The vision becomes less, the white of the notch looks gray, the black appears less black, less clear and less distinct. The notch regarded is not seen as well as other parts of the large letter not regarded, and Central Fixation is lost. Not only does the notch appear less clear, but by continuing the effort the large letter C, as well as all the letters on the card, are seen less and less perfectly. The white of the whole card is also modified and becomes less white. Other objects in the neighborhood of the Snellen card soon begin to blur and are seen imperfectly. The stare or strain has very much the same effect as if the sun were covered with a cloud or as if the light in the room, or the general illumination, were lessened. When Central Fixation is practiced, all the objects in the room, including the Snellen card, look brighter, clearer, just as though the light had increased.
Concentration is trying to see one thing only. It always fails. Central Fixation is seeing one thing best, and all other objects not so well.
When the vision, memory, or imagination are imperfect, concentration can always be demonstrated. When the vision, memory, or imagination are perfect, Central Fixation can always be demonstrated.
Central Fixation is an illusion. All parts of small letters as well as large ones are printed with the same amount of blackness. We do not see illusions. They are only imagined. When we see best one part of a letter, or other object regarded, we think we see it best, or more accurately, we imagine it best. One can imagine anything desired, and much more easily than to make an effort to see it. This fact should be demonstrated repeatedly, consciously, until it becomes an unconscious habit
With the eyes closed the imagination of Central Fixation may be much better than with the eyes open. By alternating the imagination of Central Fixation with the eyes open and closed, both may improve.
Many persons have no mental pictures with their eyes closed. For example: A patient consulted me about his eyes. He was asked to look at a white pillow. "Can you see it?" he was asked. "Yes," he answered. "Now, close your eyes. Can you remember it?" "No," he replied; "I remember a black pillow." "With your eyes open, can you see one corner of the pillow best, and the other corners not regarded worse?"
He was able to demonstrate this fact, and that he could in turn see, or imagine, each corner regarded best and the other corners worse. With his eyes closed he was able to remember one corner at a time best, and when he remembered the pillow by Central Fixation, he obtained a mental picture of a white pillow almost as well as he could see it with his eyes open.
He was then asked to remember two corners simultaneously, both perfectly clear. At once he lost his mental picture of the pillow. He demonstrated with other objects as well that he could only remember or imagine mental pictures of them by Central Fixation.
Another patient had suffered for many years with almost constant pain and fatigue. With his eyes open his vision was 20/20. He read diamond type as close as six inches, and as far off as twenty inches. He could imagine the white part of large or small letters whiter than the rest of the Snellen test card, but only with his eyes open when regarding the letters. With his eyes closed he could not remember mental pictures of any objects.
He was asked: "Which is whiter, the white centre of a large letter of the Snellen card or the white snow on the top of a mountain?" He answered: "The white snow on the top of a mountain." "Can you shift from one mountain top to another, remembering each one best and the others not so well, or worse?" This also he was able to do. But when he tried to imagine two or more snow-capped mountains simultaneously, he at once was conscious of an effort and lost his imagination of his mental pictures of the snow. The memory of the snow-capped mountains by Central Fixation helped him to imagine Central Fixation with his eyes open as well as closed.
A girl, aged eight, had imperfect sight not corrected by glasses. The right eye turned in continuously. The vision of this eye was 3/200 with glasses. The left vision was one-half of the normal. She was taught Central Fixation and became able, in a few days, to imagine one part best of the larger letters. The vision of both eyes improved very much. She demonstrated the value of Central Fixation, and that she could not distinguish clearly even the large letters with each eye unless she imagined one part best. By repeated demonstrations this young patient acquired speed in the practice of Central Fixation. She became able to read a newspaper more than five feet from her eyes by artificial light. Fine print, or diamond type, was read rapidly, easily, at one inch from each eye. She enjoyed the practice of conscious Central Fixation. It was to me very wonderful to observe her imagine very small letters by Central Fixation and read them at ten feet or further. The squint disappeared permanently. A girl, aged twelve, was treated for progressive myopia. The vision of each eye was 3/200. With concave 16 D.S. the sight of each eye was improved to 20/70. The patient was very nervous. Her memory was poor, and she was behind in her school work. Treatment with the aid of Palming and Central Fixation improved her vision slowly. After about six months there came a sudden change for the better. In one day, her vision improved from 10/200 to 10/10 plus. The next day she read the bottom line of each of three strange cards at twenty feet. It was remarkable, also, because she read all the letters as rapidly as she could pronounce them. The mother was worried because her daughter had suddenly acquired a habit of
running down stairs three steps at a time. She had never stumbled or fallen once. The mother also reported that the patient had acquired much pleasure in coasting and was the most daring of all the children. Her scholarship had improved. The teacher said the patient would read a page of history in a few seconds, and recite it with a perfect memory after a few days, a month, or longer. Her memory for other subjects was equally as good.
Immediately after she read the strange cards with normal vision, I asked her: "What helped you?" "Starch," she answered. Then she explained that she had become able to imagine a small piece of white starch perfectly white by Central Fixation. When her imagination was perfect her myopia disappeared, her eyes were normal, which made it possible to obtain normal vision. The retinoscope used at the same time demonstrated that her myopia disappeared when she had a perfect imagination of Central Fixation. Patients whose sight is very imperfect usually require a much longer time to acquire Central Fixation than do some others. One should not be discouraged when, after some weeks or many months, their vision remains imperfect. Too many are disappointed because they fail to obtain Central Fixation after long periods of time, practicing without the help of a competent teacher. One very determined patient devoted many hours daily for over a year without any apparent benefit whatever. She told me that she knew she was curable and was resolved to keep at it the rest of her life if necessary. I wrote her a few suggestions. She followed my advice and was cured in a week.

## STORIES FROM THE CLINIC ~ 69: Aunt Mary

by EMILY C. LIERMAN FOR a year I have been treating a woman, aged sixty-eight, who has cataract in both eyes. In the beginning I saw her about once a week, then later I treated her less frequently because I had so little time. She lives with her sister and family in the country, and every one who knows her calls her Aunt Mary. She has all the reason in the world to be depressed or unhappy, because with the exception of just a few years, she has been a cripple all of her life. Yet Aunt Mary greets you with a smile and makes you understand that she is happy. A few years ago her sight began to trouble her, and she was examined by an eye specialist. He said that cataract was beginning to form in each eye and that nothing could be done until they became ripe, when she was to be taken to the hospital for an operation. Then I was consulted by her family and asked to call at her home and examine her eyes. With the retinoscope I saw a clear, red reflex in the right eye, but none in the left. It was evident that her trouble was caused by strain, and her condition was becoming worse because she worried about the outcome.
We placed her in a comfortable chair in the garden where the sun was shining and fastened a white test card on the trunk of a tree. As she looked at the card, she began to squint, because the bright light bothered her. Teaching her to blink often, helped her to look at the card with less discomfort. She could read 10/200 with the right eye and 1/200 with the left, which means that at ten feet the only letter she could see with the right eye was the large letter C on the top of the card, and with the left eye she could not see it further than one foot. With some difficulty, Aunt Mary was able to raise one of her arms, so that she could cover her eyes with her palm. She had a good imagination, so while her eyes were covered, we talked about various kinds of flowers she had seen. We also talked of white clouds and a blue sky. As I mentioned one object after another, her mind did not dwell on one thing very long. I spent about an hour with her the first day, and her vision in that time improved to 10/40 with the right eye and 10/200 with the left, improving her imagination of things she had seen, with eyes closed as well as with them open, was the only method I used that day.
There was quite an improvement in her eyes when I saw her again. The vision of her right eye improved to 10/30 and 10/70 in the left. It was impossible for her to stand and swing, so I placed myself before her in an arm chair and moved my body and head to the right and then to the left with a slow movement, and asked her to do the same. While we were doing this, I could not understand why she did not see or imagine things about her moving opposite to the direction in which her head and eyes were moving. Then I noticed that she was staring while trying to follow my directions, even though she was blinking. It did not take her very long to learn how to shift her eyes and after that she made steady progress. Dr. Bates became interested in Aunt Mary's case and offered to call with me the next time I treated her. He examined her eyes with his ophthalmoscope and said there was not enough opacity of either lens to lower the vision. She was very much encouraged when Dr. Bates told her that her cataract had improved. He also remarked about her cheery disposition, and how her faithfulness in keeping up her daily treatment would help greatly in the cure of her eyes.
There is an enclosed porch where she practices on rainy days or when it becomes too cold to sit in the garden. Her loving family do all they possibly can to make her comfortable, so there is every chance that she will be cured of her eye trouble.
Aunt Mary did not like to practice with the white C card, because the white background bothered her and made her strain. She likes to practice with the white letter card on a black background, so we use the black card mostly during treatment. In her sunny room hangs a picture which is beautifully colored, but she could not see it clearly. She explained that it seemed to be in a mist always. I gave her fine print to practice with, and she has become able to read it in a fairly good light at six inches from her eyes. Her confidence in me makes me all the more anxious to cure her. In the last few months she has realized the fact that no operation for the removal of cataract will ever be necessary if she continues to practice. She surprised me one day by reading 10/20 with both eyes, and after sun treatment she read 10/15. Surely, at this time, if her cataracts were as bad as they were in the beginning, when I first saw her, her vision would not have improved, neither would she have responded to the sun treatment. Recently I examined her again with the retinoscope, and I saw a red reflex in the left eye, as well as in the right.
A neighbor, who is twenty years younger than Aunt Mary, and has presbyopia or old age sight, was surprised to find out that Aunt Mary had better sight than she had. The fact that her vision was better than a woman so much younger made her anxious to practice more. The last time I visited Aunt Mary she read the bottom line of the test card at ten feet, or 10/10, with her right eye and 10/20 with the left. She reads the fine print now at all times, and also the newspaper and her Bible without any trouble. When she strains to see at the distance, things seem to blur before her eyes, but when she palms and sways her body, as she sits in her chair, the mist clears away and she sees better.
When I first became acquainted with her, I noticed how difficult it was for her to move about with her crutches. To get up from her chair was an effort. Not so long ago, I offered to help her change her position, but she managed very nicely herself and got up with the aid of her crutches without any effort at all. I believe the constant practice of the body swing has not only improved the condition of her eyes, but also her general condition as well.

## SONNY

By GEORGE M. GUILD SONNY was a boy, very much of a boy, a manly boy, large for his age and strong with the strength of youth. He was twelve years old. He loved his mother very much and did all that he could to help her. Sonny enjoyed entertaining other boys and was popular with grown ups as well. His father was very proud of him and frequently talked about his boy to the people he knew. He rather overdid it, and his friends would usually tire of hearing so much Sonny at home, Sonny at play, Sonny at school, Sonny all the time and every day. His mother was just as proud of her boy and could talk hour after hour about him, if one were polite enough to listen. There was another member of the family, a sweet young girl, who was sick in bed and who suffered constant pain. She was unable to sit up, and of course unable to walk. Her name was May, and she was eight years old. Recently her sight had become poor, and she was nearly blind. Sonny spent more time with her than one would expect. He invited other boys and girls to visit his sister. He read story books to her, all about knights, ladies, kings, queens and the fairies. She liked the fairy stories best of all and wanted very much to see the fairies and talk to them. Sonny was just as anxious as she was to meet the fairies. One day he went into the flower garden to cry in a place where no one could see him and be annoyed with his tears. May did not seem so well. No one had ever helped her pain, and today she said that her sight was so poor that when she looked at Sonny his face appeared so far away that she could not see it at all. He tried to say something to make her feel better, but his throat had a big lump in it which prevented him from talking. After he had cried for some minutes he felt a little better. One of the flowers seemed more beautiful than any of the others, and while he was looking at this flower it nodded to him and turned into a beautiful fairy. She had bright blue eyes that were full of fun and play. They were kind eyes, too, but mostly they seemed to be laughing all the time. Sonny had never seen eyes which appeared to know so much, to know all there was to know, and to know many things which others did not know, never could know, or would know. Her eyes were indeed full of wisdom. The fairy danced a few steps, whirled around on her toes, stood still for a moment, bowed low to Sonny, threw him a kiss, and asked a question: "How do you like me?" "I love you with all my heart," said Sonny. "Why were you crying?" asked the fairy. "I was crying because my sister is sick and becoming blind. No one has helped her. No one can help her." "Would you like the fairies to help you?" "I certainly would," he answered.
Thereupon the fairy blew a gold whistle. In a few minutes the fairies began to arrive. At first slowly, by twos and threes, and then in larger numbers more rapidly. They soon filled the garden. They found places on the lawn, the trees and the outside of the house. They were not silent fairies by any means. It seemed as though all were talking, laughing and singing. Furthermore, they were not still for a moment. Their heads and eyes were always moving in time with their dancing feet. Those people who have seen fairies dancing have said that it is all very wonderful, beautiful and delightful. Sonny was in a great hurry to have his sister and the fairies meet. He learned that the first fairy he met was the Queen and beloved very much by all the other fairies. As soon as the fairy Queen met May, she directed the child's mother to lift her from the bed, holding her very gently. Then the mother was told to sway her sick child from side to side, slowly at first, and then more vigorously, but always easily and gently. When done properly, it cured dizziness and many other things. The fairy Queen insisted that the patient should not see things moving when her head and eyes were moving, but that she should make believe or imagine that she saw stationary objects to be moving in the direction opposite to the movement of her head and eyes. May was a good pupil. When her mother swayed her whole body from side to side, she soon became able to imagine the room, the bed and other stationary objects to be moving. The movement did her good. She smiled up to her mother and said: "Mother, dear, the pain in my back is all gone, and I can now see very much better." The mother kept on swaying the patient from side to side, while May imagined that all the objects she was not regarding were apparently moving from side to side all the time. When the mother tired after half an hour or longer, Sonny took his sister in his arms and continued the swaying. They alternated and continued the swaying for several hours. All this time the fairies were dancing and singing where May could see them. She enjoyed it all and tried to sing the song of the fairies as well as she could, keeping time with their singing. The fairy Queen now directed the child to sit up in bed and at first sway herself with the help of her mother and Sonny and gradually do it all without their help. She soon became able to do it alone. Her strength increased rapidly, while her sight also became much better. The fairy Queen then advised that she stand on the floor with the help of her mother and Sonny. Her strength continued to improve until, much to the delight of all, she became able to sway herself without any help. Sonny was so happy with her wonderful improvement that he laughed and shouted for joy, while all his mother could do was to smile as the tears flowed from her eyes. When Sonny's father came home he watched the proceedings approvingly. He did not believe in fairies, consequently he did not see them dancing nor hear them singing. He stood in a corner of the room blowing his nose frequently, although he had no cold. His daughter soon saw him and, without stopping her swaying, threw him a kiss and called out to him: "Oh, father, my pain is all gone; I can stand on my feet; I can walk. I can see you perfectly; the fairies have cured me. I am perfectly happy. Aren't you glad?" But he could not speak. He felt so weak that he had to sit down on the edge of the bed. His wife took his hand. She could not speak, either. She just smiled, while her tears continued to flow. Sonny had lost all control of himself. He shouted; he alternately laughed and cried. He danced around the room. He hugged his father, his mother, the neighbors who came to see the wonderful cure by the fairies. They had to take him to another room, where he flung himself down on a bed, buried his face in a pillow and sobbed as though his heart would break, because he was so happy. The next morning his sister walked into his room and wakened him with a kiss. She smiled and said: "Good morning, Sonny."

## THE LIGHT TREATMENT

By M. A. CRANE PEOPLE, who live in the dark and seldom or never see the sun, like miners, for example, always have something wrong with their eyes.
In the tenement houses where the light is poor many children acquire a dislike for the sunlight. They will bury their faces in a pillow and shut out all light. Too many of them are brought to a clinic with ulcers on the front part of the eyeball. Treatment with antiseptic eye drops and other measures generally fail to cure. Sending them out of doors in the bright sunlight has been followed by complete relief. One patient, a man with serious disease of his eyes, had spent much time in a hospital where his eyes were protected from the light by the use of bandages. After some months, his eyes had not improved, and he left the hospital wearing very dark glasses for protection from the light. His eyes became more and more sensitive, although the dark glasses were changed frequently to those that were darker, until he finally wore the darkest glasses that he could obtain. Still there was no relief from the sun. Later, the dark glasses were discarded permanently. The sensitiveness to the light became less after he exposed his closed eyelids to the sun for half an hour or longer, moving his head at the same time slowly from side to side.
After the eyes have improved, it may be possible for the patient to look down while some one else gently lifts the upper eyelid toward the brow, exposing some of the white part of the eye above the pupil. At first it may be well to shade the eyes from the sun until the patient acquires sufficient control to look down easily, continuously and without strain. With the eyes looking far down, one focuses the direct rays of the sun on the exposed white part of the eye, with a strong convex glass, moving the glass continuously to avoid the heat of the condensed sunlight. One needs to caution the patient to avoid looking directly at the sun while the light is being focused on the eye. The results obtained from this method have usually been very gratifying. When the eyes are inflamed from disease of the eyelids, the cornea, the iris, the retina, the optic nerve, from glaucoma and other inflammations, the use of the burning glass has been followed immediately by a lessening of the congestion and a decided improvement in vision.
Many people ask the question: "How long does it take to obtain a sufficient benefit to be noticeable?" When the sun treatment is employed, the improvement in the sight may be demonstrated in a very short time. The sun treatment improves the vision of all patients who are wearing glasses for the relief of pain, fatigue, and imperfect sight no matter what kind of glasses are worn or how strong they may be.
The direct sunlight focused on the white part of the eye is a benefit in many cases of blindness with hardening of the eyeball (glaucoma), or softening of the eyeball (cyclitis), also in cases of cataract, and of opacities in other parts of the eye. It was interesting to observe the improvement in a large number of patients blind from scar tissue on the front part of the eye, the cornea. They were benefited so much that their sight became normal. It is good practice to expose the eyes of babies to the direct sunlight not only when they are awake but also when asleep.
The sunlight treatment has never injured the eye nor lowered the vision permanently in a single patient, even when used improperly.
Patients with cataract seem to improve more decidedly from the light treatment than from some other kinds of treatment. Congenital cataract, or cataract present from birth, is benefited and often cured in the same way. Cataract produced by an injury to the eye has improved and occasionally been cured by the effect of light on the eye. So often has the light treatment benefited many kinds of cataract that the use of the light is strongly recommended in all cases. The beneficial effect of light is largely, if not entirely, due to its mental effect. One evidence that this is true, is the fact that the benefit is so quick that there is not enough time for the eyeball to be improved sufficiently to account for the good result. It has been stated by some authorities on the value of sunlight in the treatment of disease, that it should be used out of doors to obtain the best results, and that after it has passed through glass it has lost much of its healing properties. This may be true in the treatment of tuberculosis, or other diseases, but apparently not when used for the benefit of imperfect sight.
Strong sunlight in the tropics is as much, if not a greater relief, as it is in colder countries. Patients who do not wear a hat, or otherwise shield their eyes from the brightness of strong sunlight, have testified that their eyes became much stronger and their vision decidedly improved by the exposure. However, one should first of all accustom the eyes gradually to the light to prevent discomfort. The question has often been asked: "Is electric light beneficial?" Electric light is beneficial, but not to the same degree as sunlight. Many people have accustomed their eyes to all kinds of electric light and have improved their vision very materially by using the electric light as intelligently as the sunlight.
The sun is the whitest object there is. Many patients complain that it is not white but red, gray, blue, brown, or some other color. It has been described as black when regarded by patients whose eyes were very sensitive to the light, patients whose vision was very imperfect, or who suffered very much from eyestrain. Looking at the sun is quite frequently followed by seeing red, blue, yellow, and other colors for some days, weeks, or months. These colors always disappear in time. Palming, swinging, the memory of perfect sight, hasten their disappearance. The twinkling stars owe their peculiar appearance to good vision alternating with imperfect sight caused by eyestrain. The planets look bright with a steady light and do not usually twinkle. One can often imagine them to be twinkling with the help of a conscious strain alternating with a frequent rest. Blinking with a strain will quite often produce twinkling of the planets. By practice one can become sufficiently expert to produce twinkling of the moon.

## ANNOUNCEMENT

STORIES FROM THE CLINIC By Emily C Lierman This valuable book is now in press and we expect it to be ready in a few weeks. CENTRAL FIXATION PUBLISHING CO.

## QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

QUESTION—Why is it that many people feel the need of glasses for near work when they reach middle age? ANSWER—When trying to read they strain, which makes the sight imperfect. This may occur before the age of forty or after sixty.
QUESTION—How can I prevent the sun from hurting my eyes? ANSWER—By becoming accustomed to it. See page 15 of this issue of "Better Eyesight."
QUESTION—When should one blink and under what circumstances should stationary objects be imagined as moving, and for what purpose? ANSWER—One should blink to improve the sight. Stationary objects should be imagined as moving to avoid the stare which always impairs the sight and causes pain and fatigue.
QUESTION—When can one determine whether the desired results have been attained in palming? ANSWER—The desired results in palming are obtained when black is seen.
QUESTION—Will you please tell me if results are obtained at all ages or whether there is a limit. If there is, after what age are results unsatisfactory? ANSWER—Results are obtained satisfactorily at all ages without an exception.