Richland beacon., 1881-12-17


creasing to an alarming extent among
civilized nations. 1t is commonly sup
posed that only few persons are thus
afflicted, but the truth lie that large
portion of every community is more or
less troubled with imperfect vision.
Nyopy among schOol-chldren and at
tvndants at higher institutions Of learn
.ng in this and other countries has been
thoroughly investigated by Prof. Her
rlann Cohn and number Of other emf
cent oculists, who have examined in al
! .ore than 4u, 900 scholars.
Prot. Cohn cites among the principal
causes of myopy, badly-constr,cted
school-bencles, bad writing aud bad
type. The latter evil. he says. deserves
especial attention, and for remedying it
he makes some valuable suggestions. of
which the following are the most i'm.
portant:
"The most important point is the size
of the letters. We cannot determine
tl.is by the measurement of tine EN-, IS
The printers do, for that regards tho
shank Of the type, OF which readers
know nothing; hut it must be judged by
special measurement Of the visible let
ter. have adopted a. the standard Of
measurement the letter n, that being the
most regular and symmetrical in shape
in both the Roman and German alpha
h.,ts. | have found that the in pearl
type is about ne-hundredths Of All
inch high, in nonpareil about one-twen-
ty-fifih Of an inch, in BREWER about ole
twentieth OF an inch, in long primer
one-scvent, enth OF All inch, and III plea
one-fourteenth Of an inch. We heve
hitherto no definite rule concernii he
smallest size of letters which should be
permitted for the sake Of the eyes. The
distance at which letter Of any partic-
ular size can be seen does not afford n
guide to it, for it does not correspond at
all with the distance at which matter
printed in the same type can
lie read steadily ut the usual
distance in reading. 1 believe
that letters which are less than milli'
meter and q halt (one-seventeenth inch
high will finally prove injurious to theeya
How little attention has hitherto nee,
paid to this important subject is exem
plified in the fact that even occulistit
journals aud books frequently contain
nonpareil, or letters only a millimetal
(one.twenty- fifth inch) high. Many o
the text books required by the schOo
authorities are badly printed. The of
ficers should 60 through every schoo
book with millimetcr rule in their hands
aud throw out all in which letters ar
less than millimeter and half high
and should give the preference to thos
establishments which do not use letter
OF less than two millimeters (one-thir
teenth inch). The distance between tn
lines is an important factor in rsspec
to ease OF reading. A. is well known
the compositOrs often insert thi
leads between the lines % that th
letters project above the averag
height and those that fall below the lin
shall not touch. Every one knows tha
ieRibility il improved by contrast; th
iarker the print and the clearer til
.aaper, 80 much easier il tho reading
When the lines are close together, @
he matter is printed solid. the eye
,ecome tired sooner, because the cor
.lrsst is leesened. The lines tend to ru
.ogether, and the effort to separate theI
will tend to lessen the evil should b
undertaken without delay. Neglect i
This matter will result il everybody
soaring glasses, and in seriously imped
ing the performance Of all the world
work, especially those branches whic
particularly the exercise of goo
cycsight. In the matter Of printing, es
pecially, reform is called for. There
10 reason why small type, or type al
ranged in lines having inadequate spac
between them, should lie tolerated, an
the public should stoutly refuse
countenance the use of any school book
or patronize papers and periodicals this
are printed without regard to the bes
interests Of the students or readers
eyes.