Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-05-08
HOW TO PRESERVE ONES EYE SIGHT,
New View Of The Subject-AmpA
Light the Vain Requisite.

we beneVe De new 10 many OF our readers No
Idea ABOUT eyeSight Is 50 universal or causes so
much inconvenience as the one about the danger
OF taxing IL by fine work by strain as It is
called and close attention TO very small objects.
Most men and almost all women even In
the educated classes, think that much reading
or writing, ''tIieS" the eyes, and that fine work."
particularly fine needlewoFk, Is apt TO induce, II
not total blindness. at least some direct
and painful affection OF the eye.
In thousands OF households children
are cautioned not to read so much or
WORK so much, lest they should injure their
eyes and women constantly shrink from pay
Ing EMPLOY entS from the same latent or eX-
pressed fear. Mr.. Brudenell Carter evldenIIy
does not believe this terror well founded. He
couDtS whether eyes In their normal condltlon,
or raised to their normal condition oy proper
SpeCtacles, are injured oy exercising SlSnt at
ALL The muscles which control the eve certain
ly are not, and there Is no proof Jnat any other
part OF the apparatus is on the contrary, the
strains its eyes is Singularly ana exceptionally
free from eye disease. Mr.. Carter says: Re
maTkable evidence OF the harmleSSleSS of con-
tinuOus working by the aid or single convex
glass is furnished by watcnmakers, among whom
such work is an unavoidable condition of their
calling, and who appear TO me TO eajOy an en-
yiabe immunity from eye diseases. II Is exceed
1ngly uncommon TO see working Matchmaker
among the patients OF the Opntalmic department
Of hospital; an1 entertain little doubt that the
habitual exercise OF the eye upon fine work tends
TO the development and TO the preservation OF
It's powers" Grant, what Is very probable that
the WatchmaherS are picked men. with eXcep-
tiOnally good eyes, and still their eXemptl0n
fTCm suffering under such strain serves 10
show that me work, work requiring painful
attention or the eye, does the organ no harm
while II also shows that an eye-gIass does the
eye which Is less frequently used no percaptibIe
injury IL Is supposed popularity TO decrease the
sight in the o. her eye but experience lends no
support tOthat notion. The reason OF the watch
makers exemption clearly is that he takes care
always TO work In good light. carefully ar
the eye nor TO leave IL 1nsufficiently supplied.
Long hours OF work by artificial light OF course
tire the sight, and long hours in badly
ventilated rooms may seriously Increase q
pi6d1SpOSitiOn TO weakness of the eyes: but
the evil is not in the exercise OF the faculty.
but In its exercise under unhealthy con-
ditlonS- One great cause of the prejudice Is
the evil produced by STOPPING the head as In
writing for long periods at fiat table which.
la people with tendency to short sight, sur
Charges the veins OF the eyes with blood: and
another Is the remarkable habit of people with
that tendency, OF contenting themselves with
insufficient light. They can read, for reasons
Carefully explained by Mr.. Carter. by freight
and In twilight and with insufficient candles,
and consequently they do tt, and then lay the
blame on the reading, or Oh the small print, or
on the White paper. all or which are Innocent
They are suffering either from the effect of
strained visual attention in bad light or from
fro e e ue1 q on the BRAIN and not
OF Mr.. Carriers will give comfort to
thousands, and can offer at least one
has worn spectacles for thirty-three years.
and during that time has probably not
passed twenty days without reading or writ
ing for at least eight hours. He uses strong
glasses and takes no precaution whatever ey
cept TO avoid work, even for a few minutes In
insufficient light or In a room too hot for his
eyes; and his sight, after that long period is ex-
actly as good as IL was before, with the excep-
ton that, as years advance, exceptionally fine
print becomes little tiresOme. lie would dis
Ike 10 porch an hour over Mr.. Bellows French
dictionary though he can read il in all its types
The WhlteneSS or the paper is not painful nor
are the letters tndlStinct- 1t is the health not
The eyeSight, which parents with studiouS chill
dren should protect, though they should be most
mercilesS In insisting on a Sulficiency OF light
and light which actually reaches the object OF
attention. lOu may sit in room fun OF light,
out have all the while only twilight or even a
deep shadow, falling upon the work In hand
Light, full light. but light without glare, Is the
grand preservative oftne eyes,
The next preventative. Mr.. Carter SAYS Is the
habituai use OF proper spectacles. The Curious
notion once We believe general In all classes and
stu almost universal among the poor, that
glasses wear out the eyes, Is. he believes. a
mere DEUS on. They preserve the eyes. Bad
glasses, or unsuitable glasses or course, pro-
duce great fatigue OF the eyes, though that
fatigue Is not so injurious as is supposed; but
glasses OF themselves, even when a little too
''strong do no permanent harm whatever. "a
popular but entirely unfounded prejudice which
exists among the public with regard 70 the hurt
ful effects or wearing convex glasses which are
too strong, appears to be tracea0le TO an error
founded upon curious coincidence There is
disease OF the eye termed glaucOma, which for
merly ended In complete and irremediable blind
Uul lOT twenty years DdSt, mas been
cured by operation when recognized sufficiently
early. One OF the first or even OF the Fremont
tory symptoms OF glaucoma is a rapid failure OF
the accommodation, and hence a frequent de-
mand for stronger and stronger glasses. At a
time when this disease was very imperfectly
understood opticians saw many examples OF
people who came TO them for stronger glasses
every two or three months, who were helped Dy
them for time, but who soon became totally
blind; and IL was not unnatural for them to as
sOciate the blindness with the use OF the strong
glasses Good pebble SQpckaPlpS carefully
suited TO the sight, may be worn perpetually,
as If they were part OF the anatomy of the
strengthen It by the immense relief
they AFFORD to the six muscles which regulate
the eye, aid which in short-sighted people and
people with old sight are apt, without specta-
cles gradually 10 get strained In the effert to
enable the owner TO see. 1t Is. OF course, i'm
tant that IL would pay even poor men TO find
guinea for a competent OculiSt once or twice In
The course OF lifetime, merely to obtain an
order for the spectacles exactly suited to their
sight; but, once obtained, the glasses may be
worn forever, and indeed are most beneficial
when permanently worn They should, as IL
were, grow TO be part OF the face. Mr.. Carter,
however, pushes his theory rather far when he
applies il 50 strongly TO children, as he seems
TO US inclined TO do. He is evidently OF the
opinion that children with "myopic" or
Short-sighted eyes cannot wear SpectacleS
too soon, not only because the glasses
arrest the development OF the malforma-
the eyeball-but because they lose such an
enormous amount OF instruction through the
eye, and grow up, as IL were, comparatively in
experienced distinguished man OF science,
who is amyOpic in high degree, and who did
not receive glasses until he was 10 or % years
old, has often told me how much he had TO
do III order 10 place himself on the same level,
with regard 10 experience OF quite common
things. with many OF his normal-Sighted con-
temporaries; and 1t viii be manifest on refiec-
ton that the matters which are lost by the
Short-sighted. as by the partially deaf, make up
q very large proportion OF the pleasures OF ex-
fStence. / once prescribed glasses to
correct the myopia OF lady who had for many
years been engaged in teaching, and who had
never previously worn them. Her first exclama-
tion or pleasurable surprise, as she put on her
spectacles and looked around her, was curious
commentary on the state In which her life had
until then been passed She said: why, /
shall be able 10 see the faces or the children.
All this is very true, and spectacleS in child
hood might benefit the eyeS-and We suppose
do, for we begin TO see them worn by children
with ever-increasing frequency-but Mr.. Car
tiers opinion Is that OF a man who, as he men,
lions, has very good sight himself. and never
wore spectacleS OF any sort. SpectacleS he
may depend on, II healthy for children'S eyes,
are unhealthy for the rest OF their bodies. They
diminish the desire for activity too much A