The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1875-10-26

EFFECTS OF SCHOoL.IIFE UPoN THE
EYES OF CHILDREN.-ReCent Observa.
LiOns upon the eye.sight Of children in
schools In this and foreign countries, re-
veal somc startling and important facts.
In a paper published in the Snilaridn,
DR.. Agnews report Of III e observations
taken in Europe are given, in which he
states that In 1867, Herman Cohn, Of
lIreslau, first published the result Of bis
investigations In the cases Of 10000
school children pupils, and which cstab.
lished the fact that The effects Of school.
life in his country were seriously
damaging to the eyes. Erismann,
Of st. Petersburg, and others i'm.
mediately followed in published state.
mentS, showing the same results
from other observations, and which man
lfested that the serious malady Of near
Sightedne@ was increasing among this
class to an alarming extent; that this
malady was seldom apparent In very
young children, and then generally Of a
very mild type, but that 1t increased in
frequency and gravity as children were
pushed forward from the lowest to the
highest schools" Cohn, for example,
found that the rate Of near.sightedness
was le@ than two per cent. In primary
schools; that II increased to more than
20 per cent. in schools Of the grade Of
colleges In the United States and that in
Breslau University out Of 4lO students
examined, mol Onc.third had normal eyes.
Recent Investigations have been made
In this country upon the plan followed
by COhn. These examinations have been
made in the District, Intermediate, Nor.
NAL and High Schools, Of Cincinnati, the
New York College, and also the Academic
department Of The Brooklyn Polytechnic.
The summary ofall these observations is,
that Of 1884 eyes examined, 1866 had
normal refrHctiOn; 63S were near.sighted
and 1862 astigmatic; while Of 81 the re.
fraction was notnoted. The observations
proved the increase in defective vision to
be affected by increased application, In.
cident 10 the more advanced branches Of
study, though by no means to 80 great or
alarming extent as in European coun'
tries. This may be due to better methods
Of lighting school-rooins adopted in this
country, ventilation, variation Of school
tasks, etc. From the report on this sub.
ject made by The Secretary Of the Ameri.
can Social Science Association, at the re.
cent session in Detroit, we gather The fol.
lowing important rules for the care Of
eyes:
When writing, reading, drawing, sew.
Ing, &c., always take care that
(d.) The room is comfortably cool, and
the feet warm;
(t.) There Ia nothing tight about The
neck; 49,.
(cj There Ia plenty Of light without
dazzling the eyes;
(d.) The sun does not shine directly on
the object we are al work upon;
(e) The light does not come from the
front; Il is beaL when il comes over the
left shoulder;
tt) The head Is not very much bent
over the work;
(g.) The page Ia nearly perpendicular
to The line Of sight that l., the eye Is
nearly oppposite The middle Of the page,
for an object held slNhtihg is not seen so
clearly.
th.) That the pageor other object Ia not
less than 10 inches from the eye.
NeAt.sightelneSs Ia apt to increase rap.
idly when person wears In reading The
glasses intended 10 enable him 10 see dis.
taht objects.
In any case, when the eyes have any de.
feet, avoid fine heedle.wotk, drawing Of
fine maps, and all such work, except for
very short tasks, not exceeding half an
hour each, and in tho morning.
Never study or write before breakfast,
or by candle light.
DO not lie down when reading.
==Ii your eyes are aching from the light |
from looking at the SNOW, from over.work,
ofsother causes, pair Of colored glasses
may be advised TO be used for a while.
Light blue or gtayiSh blue IL the beat
shade, but these glasses are likely 10 bc
abused, and usually, are not to be worn |
except under medical advice. Almost all
those persons who continue 10 wear color
ed glasses, having perhaps first received
advice 10 wear them from medical men,
would be better without them. Travel
Ing vendors Of spectaclea are not to be
trusted; their wares are apt 10 be recon-