Kimball enterprise. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1883, 1883-06-22
PRESERVE YOUR EYEsIGHT.
A Veteran Editors Experience Giver,
for the Benefit OF Others.

for the Benefit of Others.
The editoro the Huntsville Democrat.
who has passed his three score years
without the use of eyeglasses, and can
still, with his natural eyes. read fine
print, wishes to give other people near
ing the sere ana yellow leaf the benefit
of his ocular experience. Therefore, he
tells them that in 1866 he found his eye
sight failing, indicated by dark specks
dittering over the page and hazy ap-
pearance of the letters when he was
reading. Remembering to have heard
his mother say that ex-president John
Q,nncy Adams (who lived to about SO
years. had preserved his eyesight and
read without glasses by pressing the
outer and inner corners of his eyes
together, the editor tried the expert
ment. After retiring to his bed at night
he has, ever since the fall of 1865, be-
fore going to sleep pressed gently
together the outer and inner corner Of
each eye between the thumb and fore
finger Of the hand corresponding to
the right and left eye, applying equal
simultaneous pressure to both eyes. Or,
using but one hand, he has put the mid
die finger on his forehead above his
nose, and pressed together the corners
of one between the thumb and forefn-
ger, and the corners of the other eye
between the third and the fourth fingers,
striving to give equal pressure to both
eyes. The philosophy of the expert
ment is explained in this way: AS the
people pass the middle age, there is
of the balls of the eye to lose their con-
vexity-in common parlance, to f1atten.
The habitual pressure of the outer and
inner corners of the eyes together pre-
vents tlattening, and thereby preserves
the original normal convexity of the
eyes, and thereby the original power of
seeing. Near-si2hted persons are ex-
ceptions to the rule. Their near-sight-
edness (as we understand) is caused by
too great convexity Of the eve. Often
times. as they advance in years, their
eyes f1atten; that Is, lose their original
convexity, and become more nearly like
the good eyes of young people, and they
can see better without glasses and lay
them aside.
Whether our philosophical explana-
nation !s right or wrong. this one thing
we know, that whereas we, over seven
power of seeing, now, by manipulation
Of our eyes as above explained, we can
see plainly without the use of glasses,
and can read small print almost. if not
quite, as well as in our youth. while men
and women many years our juniors,
some of them our near blood relatives,
who have not resorted to our mode OF
preserving the eyesight, are compelled
to use glasses. Believing it our duty to
mankind to do them all the good we can,
we overcome cur native modesty about
writing of ourself by the consideration
that we may benefit others by relating
our own experience.
The reason why both eyes should be
subjected to the equal Simultaneous
pressure is that, to see clearly, both eyes
should behold objects at the same local
distance, and this can not be if the two
eyes have not the same convexity. Il
the two eyes should see objects at diff
ferent distances, the object would pre-
sent different images on the two retina
of the eyes, and produce a confusion Of
images, and, of course, impair distinct
vision. Instances occur of persons who
have naturalinirmity of the eyes wit h
different foci-one eye seeing at one
focal distance, the other seeing at an
other focal distance. In such cases ocu-
lists provide eyeglasses of different foci,
SO accommodated as to correct the nat
| ural defect and make both eyes see
alike.-Huntsville{ Ala. democrat.