The Red Cloud chief., 1883-07-06
NEAR.SIGHTEDNESS.

s--
NEAR.SIGHTEDNEsS.
OF the optical defects. or ~refractiye
errors, which to o greater or less extent
are capable of correction. I viii first
mention myoTia or Bear-sightedness.
since IL II no only of greater frequency
than any other eye defect, but from it.
very nature tends 10 develop into Sc
rious organic diseases. When | said in
n previous article that the human eye
was practically round, I referred. OF
course to that organ in its normal con-
dition. The myopic eye. instead Of
possessing this spherical shape is elon-
gated from before backward. The
round eye il so constructed that the
parallel rays Of light are brought 10 a
focus on the refina. II this retina be-
pushed further back-as il virtually is
in "A near-sighted eye-the rays Of light
will be focused before reaching it. In
other words, there will De no screen
upon which 10 receive the image formed
by the condensing media, and hence no
impression can be conveyed to the
brain. This variation in the shape of
the organ is not to be measured by
inches hardly by Inns. A single half
turn Of the nd justing screw Of the micro
scope. though producing no visible
frightening Of the instrument. yet
causes the object which was before so
sharply defined Ia become blurred and
indistinct. SO il does not require much
pressing back of the rear wall of the
eye-ball Ia render u vision decidedly
defective. II is generally supposed.
and was even formerly taught. that the
eyes Of near-sighted persons necessa-
rily proiruded, and that the cornea
in such cases was more convex than
usual. II is now known that il is the
postcrior segment Of the cye-ball which
is at fault-that portion pierced by the
optic nerve, and which, as l have al
ready told YOU, is the weakest part of
the entire globe.
Observation-Disclosures il most frequently
an acquired condition. though the
tendency to this defect NAV, and i'm the
majority of eases probably does. exist
at birth. That il is one of the unhappy
results Of u modern civilization and
our closer application To intellectual
pursuits a not be questioned. No
one ever heard of n near-sighted Indian.
and before u civil war the full-bloodcd
Southern negro was equally exempt
from this defect. The difference be-
tween the eyes of children who attend
the public schools of our large cities
where their brains are developed ut the
expense of their bodies-and of those
residing in the country. where at most
only One-half of the year is devoted to
school duties. can not have failed to at
tract the attention of all observant per-
sons. From Germany. Russia, France
and England we have reliable statistics
to prove the relative frequency of these
eye defects. Germany. as we know, is
a land of students, and SD common is
myopia in that country that il has long
been impossible to fill the ranks of its
armies without admitting those who are
compelled to wear glasses.
The progressive character of this de-
feet is likewise clearly illustrated by
some statistics furnished by DIR. COIN.
Of Rreslau. He examined the ewes of
ten thousand school children and found
results a follows: In the elementary
school about six per cent. were myopic,
i'm the intermediate school over ten per
cent, in the high school about twenty
per cent, and in the gymnasia over
twen:y-six per cent. Other eXamina-
tions, both in Europe and this country,
furnish us with closely corresponding
data. A very interesting and still more
suggestive series of experiments was
repsrtsa from st. Petersburg, a. few
years since, where, according to high
authority. thirteen per cent. of the
scholars begin life with inherited myo-
Pia. Several thousand children were
selected from the public schools of that
city. and had applied themselves more
or less closely to their books outside of
school hours. Among those who had
~habtually studied two hours each day
the thirteen per cent. had increased to
seventeen per cent, while those who
had devoted four hours to their
books t%wenty-nine pei cent. had
become near-sighted; and among
the most industrious ones and those
who. in their competition for class
prizes had averaged six hours of daily
outside work, more than forty per cent. |
had injured their eyes and required
glasses for distant vision. One
authority claims that some of the
classes in the highest
schools of the continent of Europe
exhibit the enormous proportion of
seventy per cent. of near sighted
students. In this country, it is
true. We have not vet reached such
frightful figures, but we have already
statistics enough to prove conclusively
that the number of near-siyhted or
weak-eyed persons is rapidly increas-
ing. and that each additional wear of
study is adding perceptibly to the per-
centage of myopic children; and. mas
much as with the increase of acquired
eases will come a corresponding in
of inherited ones, it may not be
long before thirteen per cent. of our
viii start in life with this eve
There can be no question that
eye diseases of this character are rapid
ly increasing. and our public schools, |
with their forced system of education, |
have been justly charged with causing
a large share of this growing evil. Does
it not really appear as if nj higher ed
ucation was threatening the eye-sight of
our race? This is a subject oi vital in
terest 10 us all, parents, teachers and
physicians. -
Were this defect to consist alone in
rendering distant objects obscure it
would be bad enough. for that would
necessitate our passing through life un-
able e recognize or enjoy one-half its
beauties and pleasures; but there is
iar more serious side to be considered.
My experience has taught me that q
near-sighted eve is q dangerous eve.
Imagine the wall of q house bullying
outward, be it Y so slightly, you
would say at once: "That is q danger
wall and likely to give way entirely
at some time in the FUTURE Ii the
oulglng were ut all marked You would
say without even examining the interi-
or. the plaster within is undoubtedly
cracked. the paper lining the walls
must Of necessity be more or less
stretched and torn. So with the nv
opic eye. Its outer wall has yielded to
the pressure thxt close and con-
tinued eye work has made, and it
has become only . question Of time
whether the inner aaats viii give way.