The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1877-11-08
How to Use the Eyes.

The following hygienic rules are COM
piled and condensed from eminent
French and English authorities. For
the worker the light should come as
much as possible from the left side
that is to say, from the side toward
which one turns in working. Daylight
is the best; but direct sunli ght and that
reflected from mirrors should be avoid
ed. The aspect should be northern,
and the light should come little from
above. White walls should be avoided;
highly vanished tables, and, in work
shops, shining articles like silk should
be protected from the suns rays. Arti-
fetal light is always bad on account of
the heat and the exhalation of carbonic
acid. The best is that of lamps fed
with vegetable oil (much used in France,
but seldom in this country, and fur
nished with glass shade. Gas is bad,
because of its heat, brilliancy and mo-
bility; the light of mineral oils is too
hot, that of candles insufficient and
Pickering. The eye of the workman
should avoid the light coming to him
directly or diffused through the room.
Working Immediately after meals is
Objectionable, also uninterrupted use of
the eyes for long periods of time. One
should write on an inclined plane, and
not keep the head bent down more than
is absolutely necessary. Reading in
bed is bad every way. Some good
authorities commend washing the eyes
with cold water, but the majority of
the best ophthalmologists advise
the use of hot water for the less Sc
rious affections of the eye. For tired
eyes, we believe, from our own ex-
perience, that water, hot as can be
borne, is refreshing and beneficial. II
the eyes are fatigued by bad artificial
illumination, blue or slightly smoked
glasses will be useful, and in order to
avoid the lateral rays they should be
large and round. If the Irritation of
the eyes persists, all work must be
abandoned, and an examination made
to see if there be any disturbance of re-
fraction, of power of accommodation
or of the mobility of the eyes. Pres
byopia, or so-called I" far-sightedness,"
supervenes earlier with those who are
constantly at work than with other in
dividuals, and as soon as it does con-
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to, without which the muscle of accom-
mediation would be fatigued to no pur-
pose. At first they should be used for
working in Intervening after the fatigue
of the day but long-sighted person
should only use spectacles for looking
at near objects, not at far ones. Work
requiring close application favors the
development of myopia or 'near-
sightedness," precisely in proportion
as the conditions of illuminations are
bad. If the action of those causes con-
tinues, the myopia will increase until
vision is lost. A slight degree of myo-
pia may be favorable to close work,
but, as general rule, work requiring
close application, by the arrangement
of circulation that it inevitably induces
in the eye, is much more injurious to
the myopic, and is the great cause of
the development of myopia and its
complications. Young people should
be examined, and if they are myopic,
hindered from undertaking tedious
studies and all professions demanding
close application of the eye.-Journal
of Chemistry.