Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-01-25
Increase of fNeer-Sightedness, and tho Prob
able Cause Thereof-An Erroneous
Idea Corrected-Fittinga q Pair
of Spectacles to the Eye.


Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.l
"More people have something the matter
with their eyes than you would suppose
said Rochester opticfan to a reporter. In
fact, shouldn't exaggerate if l were to say
that absolutely perfect vision is the excep-
tion, not the rule. To say nothing of color
blindness, which is very common and has un-
doubtedly been the cause Of many railway
and steamboat accidents, short-sightedness
is very common Just stand in doorway
on Main or State streets and see how many
people go by who are wesring either specta-
cles or Eyeglasses. YouW be surprised, and
it isn't elderly people altogether, by any
means. Go into any one of our public schools
and you will see a good many children wear
ing glasses. Opticians always have plenty
of customers"
do you think near r-sightedness is on the
increasei" was asked in the course Of the con-
versation.
Il do, especially among young people. One
reason is undoubtedly the darkness Of some
schOol-rooms, straining the eyes in looking at
blackboard work at distance, and the like,
and doubtless something is owing to the life
the children of our day live, which is far
more artificial than it used to be. Then,
too, is the practice of studying at night.
That'I wear a chIld's or mans eyes out
quicker than anything else. Daylight is
Gods light, and man can't improve on it
Night work is very injurious Did you ever
see newspaper man of early middle age
who wasn't compelled to wear glasses"
The reporter confessed that he, in common
with most OF his profession, had to pull out
his specs" when he wanted to see clearly,
and then asked the optician how such work
as matchmaking, engraving and constant
use of the microscope affected the eye.
1T don't hurt them bit" was the reply,
$50 long as the axis Of the eye is in proper
accord with the focus of the glass used, and
that reminds NE to say that some people,
when they find their sight going and reading
matter blur as they look at it, don't do Is
they should do, put on glasses at once, and
when they do, think they can select pair
of glasses for themselves. That's a very er
roneous idea, and man may and often does
injure his eyes irreparably by using unsuita-
BILE glasses. No two mems eyes are exactly
alike and a mans own eyes are not always
alike. When you find the need of glasses,
go to an optician. He will test your eyes in
the way I'll show you presently, and f1t your
eyes with proper glasses. 1t may be that
your eyes are not a pair, SO TO speak, that is,
that the foci are not coincident in length,
and therefore you must Lave different
glasses for each eye"
-Now," said our friend Of the lenses, open
ing handsome mahogany case, velvet-lined
and with several hundred partitions, each
one holding lens of different shape or focal
length, "these are the standards They
come from Paris, whose lenses are the STAN
dard all the world over. They embrace all
numbers and varieties, concave, convex,
plano-convex and concave, bi-convex and
bi-concave, cylindrical and others, all gradu
ated on a dioptric scale Most people under
stand the terms convex and concave, but
few know that q cylindrical lens is one SC
ground as to meet a peculiar defect In the
eye. 1t is when the visual ray is SO detected
that an object is distorted, and the lens must
exactly counteract this abnormal condition
SO that most cylindrical glasses have to be
specially ground. When a customer comes
to me to have pair of lenses fitted to his
eye, / put him at distance where he can
see the largest letter On that card You see
there are printed on it q number of
letters of different sizes. l make him walk
backward or forward, as the case may BE-
till he can see that particular letter dis
tinctly: then try him with smaller letters
and can SO form general idea Of where to
begin with him on the lenses themselves
Then 1 try him with the standards, and
when have found one that suits his sight
best, 1 try both eyes, and, if alike in focal
distance. the work is done. l take the
standard number and put the proper lenses
in such a frame as my customer likes best,
"As to cheap glasses, don't speak in a
business way but as matter Of fact they
are very injurious, because Of course, no
pains are taken to have them properly CEN
tered and their use is liable to bring on
serious injury to the eyes"