The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1880-09-30
THE CARE OF THE EYES.
Some Useful Directions Concerning Pres
ervation of the Eyes!ght.

ervation of the EyesRht.
A really healthy. eye possesses in a
wonderful degree the power of adjust
| ing itself to the viewing of objects at
different distances; If, for example. you
hold UP in front of you between your
eve and the distant horizon any small
object, such as penholder, you will
find that no effort of yours will enable
YOU to see both we'll at the same time
| If you gaze at the one, the other imme-
diately becomes indistinct. This is
called the power of accommodation. and
depends upon the elasticity of the crys-
taliine lens. Its convexity is increased
when we fix our eyes and attention on
a near object, and diminished when we
look at something further off. In old
age there is considerable curtailment of
| this power of accommodation, depend
| ing upon hardening of the crystalline
lens. Things close at hand can then not
be discerned so well as those farther.
This state is called presbyopia, or long
siphtedness. 1t usually commences,
from the forty-fifth to the fftieth year,
and 1 would here strongly urge those
who are only even slightly presbyoplc
to commence the use of suitable specta-
cles forthwith, and not to forget that the
glasses must be strong enough to be
quite effectual.
You need hardly be afraid of getting
too strong ones, they cannot be so if
they suit the sight. And again, in
course of time, when even more power
is needed, stronger ones must be worn
although for some time at first the old
ones will be found powerful enough in
the daytime.
There is a condition of the eyes from
which many people suffer, generally
known by the name of weak sight; it
may have been produced from overstudy
or fatigue. There is entire inability to
read or write for any length of time, and
and even headache, p pllpitation, etc. In
such cases attention to the health and
due portion of rest may do good, but it
cannot be too well known that hundreds
of people who have been sufferers from
weakness of sight have not only been
relieved, but even cured, by the wearing
of proper spectacles. But let me here
remind sufferers from this complaint
that even the cleverest opticians are not
as a rule the men to be advised by as to
the kind of spectacles to be worn. A
cure is never immediate, but indeed
often tedious, and the advice of the best
oculist or ophthalmic surgeon should, ii
possible, be obtained.
Short-sightedness is often hereditary,
and the worst of it is that it has q
tendency, if it's influence be not quickly
counteracted, to increase as the child
gets older. A case of this kind should
never be neglected, and spectacles should
be worn, especially when reading, writ
ing, etc. The apartment, too, in Which
studies are conducted should be airy,
well lighted, and clean, and the desks
high enough to prevent STOPPING posi-
tion being at all necessary. Plenty of
outdoor exercise. by strengthening the
body, will tend to prevent the increase
of the ailment, and if these instructions
are followed to the letter, it is not AZ
ali unlikely that upon attaining the age
of twenty, or n little over, spectacles
may be gradually dispensed with.
Very great care should be taken OF
The eyes of infants and children. From
its birth the eyes of baby should be
the first part washed or cleaned; the watt r
, should be soft and gently warm, the bit
of sponge used of the finest quality.
Never expose an infant to bright or
{ dazzling light. nor allow it to sleep in
such light. Exposure to draughts and
, cold, on the other hand, is highly detri-
mental to the sight, and so is impure air
from whatever cause.
| Purulent ophthalmia in children is
) very likely permanently to injure OIL
even entirely destroy the sight. Medical
. aid should be obtained at once; no do
mestic remedies should be tried; simply
keep the little sufferer in a quiet, warm,
very clean, and moderately darkened
room. AS often as any discharge
gathers it is to be carefully washed
+ away with lukewarm water, poured
: from a small soft sponge. After the eyes
q are softly dried, a folded linen rag dip.
: ped in cold water may be laid over each,
! and changed when it gets warm. The
nurse should take care not to touch her
r own eyes until she has well washed hel
i hands.
, Parents ought to put themselves &c
: some little trouble with regard to then
children's eyesight. Never overtasb
, them, and see that they do not sit a
/ their tasks with heads falling forward
O If signs of any weakness Of sight or alb
o normal vision be noticed, surgical advice
y should Immediately be had. The hand
2 writing children are taught ought to bt
f large, the books they read to have 6
Y wide margin and clear good type, anc
4 the light be amply sufficient. Again
i the tasks they have to perform should
p: not be of a kind to distress the eyes
;. nor should, in my opinion, they be pun
o ished by having work imposed upoI
|
: which strain both brain and eye. ''Al
r work and no play makes Jack dul
n boy" So runs the proyerb, but it nigh
: have gone further, and added, land ;
II pale, feeble, weakly, and often half 5linC
}, boy"
. Grown-up people should be careful o
o their eyesight if they would live Ion,
y and be happy. We should all remem
v Der the things which are likely to caus
injury to the eyes, such rs working o
2 reading in bad light. Daylight is al
eye-tonic; it is as necessary to the ey
"a as food to the organs of digestion. Elk
posure to cold is hurtful, or to impur
Il air and to atmospheres impregnate,
d with dust or vapor. Anything tina
II tends to weaken the general health Wi
n also prove injurious to the eyesight, O
e anything that causes determination {
/ blood to the brain.
= But while, on the one hand, the eye
=. should never be strained, or worked I
~ the verge of fatigue, on the other, exel
~ else is Just rs beneficial to them as I
If any other part of the body. The hab
a. should be cultivated of studying sma
nf objects carefully, keenness of sight q
n pending so much upon the mental after
to tion one is in the habit of paying
~ visual impressions. Excesses OF ever
=. kind tend to the injury of the eyesigh
and so in very great degree does Il
want of good and proper spectacle
when such helps to the eyes are real
tho., H.. la a