The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-01-07
EYES OF SCHOOL CHILDREN
FACTS GATBERED FROM TuE GLASS.
hOoMs or our CITIES,

hOOMS Or OUR CITIES,
Interesting Results Of nm Invrstian,ion- ubv
Children Grow 10 be Near sighted md
Puny-vninnbic suggestions to Parents.
paper was read at the last meeting OF
the Medico Legal society of New York upon tho
subject Of tho conditions affecting the eyes OF
school children In the United States The OBJ
Ject Of the paper was to show that near sighted
ness was very prevalent among scholars, and
that the near slghtednoss rate Increased with re-
markobe uniformity children wero traced
upward In the school life from the primary
form to the academies and colleges These ro-
suits, II was stated, agreed essentially with
those obtained bv Cohn and Erismann on tho
Continent Of Europe. Taking village or peasant
children ~ the starting point Cohn of Breslau
FOUND about two per cent. of near sightedness
among them, while at the other end of the line,
among the students of the Brcslau University,
were sixty or seventy per cent From such
statistics II would seem that the use OF tho
organs OF vision under the conditions Of school
life Induced or aggravated near slghtcdness.
Az va very large number Of those who arc noar-
sighted become more near sighted and IA pro-
gressive near sightedncss is grave malady, Il
becomes n very pressing question how the evil
may be lessened Before answering this ques-
ton, DIR. Agnew said that 1t was most Important
to separate, II possible, those Causes which
might safely be traced to the school houses
themselves from those which were due to
hereditary and home life. The ability OF an
individual TO thrive under the wear and tear Of
life depends very much upon his tissue building
powers. His tissue building powers will depend
upon the Inherited quality OF his body, upon
the accidents Of childhood, upon the Diseases
from which he may have suffered, upon the
sanitary conditions OF his dOmicile, upon his
common dietary, and, In relation 10 the organs
OF vision. also upon the home methods Of using
gressvc near sightodne-s by too much reading II
small print books, or too much exercise of the
organs OF vision upon other minute work,
especially when convalcscing from illness. IL
would be manfestly unfair to attribute To school
life results easily traccable 70 causes lying out
side Of the school house. If we wish children
60 have good SGT Of organs, and To use them
through life with the minimum Of damage, we
cannot be too careful to our habits IA parents.
Self Indulgence, bad habits as regards eating
and drinking will almost inevitably stamp them
selves upon our progeny, rendering them loose
1bred, bad tissue builders, and SO prone to such
degcnerative maladies as progressive near
Much attention has been given in the United
States by Intelligent teachers to the preventable
causes OF Ill health In scholars. and there In
New York, and | presume elsewhere. schools
which may be taken as models Of everything re-
lating to hygiene while this is so It Is beyond
dispute that much remains to he done in the
homes and schools to better the condition Of
the children. The future health Of scholars
turns on the way In which the primary educa-
u"h - conducted. ana very much upon the plan
OF construction and methods Of primary school
houses. Az present, even III centres where
school questions are much discussed very young
children are objected to forms Of restraint and
class exercises which do not come fully up to
the teachings Of physiology why should not
every school house Intended for children Of q
primary age have the top story SO built and
lighted a. tn Ice a summer and winter summing
place? In such place the classes might In turn
he aired and summed, and the little ones allowed
to have their playthings or other amusing and
instructive objects. The presence of wise
teachers among the children at play would afford
opportunities Of teaching lessons Of great value,
ana Such the rigid System of class
would not permit.
After these preliminary remarks. Dr. Agnew
read the statistics, which he had pro 'ured. In
the District schools Of Cincinnati. in on, OF tho
largest and most famous Of the Brooklyn schools
for boys. and In one OF the colleges IN New York.
In this work he had been aided 10y Drs. Wilans
And And AAyres Cincinnat OhiY hy Dr.; rrout and
aud ID. Webster. New York.
Fourteen hundred and forty eyes had been cx-
amined. or these 80 were In the district schools
Of Cincinnat 80 in the college In New York,
and Jgo In the school in BROOKLYN
the District, Intermediate, Normal. and High
SS,chools IN New York Of the Introductory Class,
College in Bp pooEyyn of the Academic and
Collegiate Departments of the school
In all. or nearly all, cases the refraction was
first determined by the use Of trial glasses, and
afterward corrected by the ophthalmoscopc. In
been given to the refraction determined by
,hs ophihalm9scope, IN all cases in which It
1t il proper To say that considerable proper
ton Of the cases Of ncar--ghtedne-s were Of
low degree from ohc-loItl elghth To one scNen-
ty-HccOnd.
OF the students examined In Cincinnati there
were found 10 be near sighted In one or more
meridians Of one or both eyes, of those exam
ined IN the district schools, ten per cent; in
termediate schools. fourteen per cent; normal
ana nigh schools, sixteen per cent.
or the students examined in New York, there
were found To- be near sighted In one or more
neridians OF one ar both eyes-in the Introduce
tory class twcnty-nine per cent; In the FRESH
men, forty per cent; in the Sophomorcs. thirty.
I'VE ana quarter per cent. and in The Juniors,
hliN-thfee per cent.
OF the students examined I'm the Brooklyn
school there were found to be near sighted in
one or more mcridihns II one or both eyes In
the Academic department. ten per cent, aud In
the Collegiate department twenty eight and
hair per cent.
Thus it appeared that In this country, az
abroad. near ,ghtedne.S was upon the increase,
ana with II danger To vision.
Dr. Agnow took the ground that with due al
lpwancc We might assume that tho morbid
changes produced in the eyes Of scholars 10y
their home aud school habits. might safely lie
taken a. an indication of the probable cdcOt
upon the development and health Of other or.
ganS of the body. and that many Of the causos
which produced diseases Of the eyes in children
were preventing healthy Development Of the
general body Of the scholar.
~ the object # the paper was to aid the com
miilcc IT school hygiene Of the society In regard
20 tlie eyes Of scholars. the facts relating To tho
lay -ienc state Of the school house In which the
but reserved for another time.