The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1885-07-22
The Decay Of EyesfOht.

A paper has recently been read before an
Enx1tsh scientific society OH the decline
and fall OF the human eye. IL seems u be
. fact that within the last fifty years the
human eye has steadily AND rapidly dete.
rlofated. Before that time Dear-sighted
men we're rarely met, aud near-sighted
child was nearly unknown. Now near
sightedDess affects a large proportion Of
civilized people of all ages, and In one
cOuntry-Germany- person who Is not
near-sightep is exceptional. A mallorma-
tion OF the eye, technically called ''fat
eye" has also become common, and the
sight o. persons thus afflicted ID painfully
feeble. AstlgmatiZation is another FIRE.
quent defect OF the modern eye, and al
though IL Is not as bad as it sounds 1t Is
nevertheless a defect more or less serious
~ the case may be.
Whatever may be the cause OF this grow
ing decay of the power Of vision, the fact
cannot be denied. The worst of it is that
the decay of eyesight is progressive. The
ratio of defective eyes to sound eyes in
creases almost In geometrical progression,
and not only is an increasing number of
persons afflicted with near-sightedness, but
the near-sighted people Of to-day are more
conspicuously near-sighted than those of
ten years ago. The only plausible explana-
ton Of this state eff things is the improve
ment which has been made in the last fifty
years In artificial light. Oar grandfathers
used a single whale oil lamp or single tai
low candle, where we use u brilliant gas or
electric light, but they could read at night
without feeling any strain on their eyes,
while there are thousands of people to-day
whose eyes will not permit them to read
anything by artificial lig t. The probabl-
ity is that all artificial light is injurious to
the eyes, but our fathers recognizing the
fact that their miserable lamps and candles
did not give them sufficient light, read very
little at night; while we, betrayed by con
fidence in our gas and electricity, use our
eyes until late at night, and so injurs them
Alarming as it may sound, 1t is evident
from the statistics quoted in the scientific
paper already mentioned that the human
race is in a fair way to lose its eyeslght.
Ii the decay of eyesisht goes on at the
rate that 1t has gone on for the last fifty
years civilized man viii be totally blind at
the end Of another century This will, Of
course, mean his extinction, for the uncv-
ilized races, led by dozens Of Mahdis of
different varieties, will ovcIrnn Europe and
America, and will find no difficulty in driv
ing the blind men into the sea. 1t would
not, perhaps, make much difference il Eng
lish statesmen and EGgish generals should
be physically as well as mentally blind, but
an army of blind soldiers would be com
pletely helpless and could offer no resist
ance to hordes of keen sighted Arabs or
ChiuameD.
1t is time for us to take the alarm and to
eudeavor If possible to save the eyes OF
civilized men. We must abandon the prac'
tice of using our eyes by artificial light.
Nature evidently designed all reputable an-
finals to GO to sleep with the sun. 1t is
only beasts without principle or conscience
such rs jackals, hyeDas, and animals of
the cat tri1e-that keep awake At night.
Man has made a great mistake in imi aiing
these depraved beasts instead of copying
the unexceptioDable habits of good and Sc
rious animals, such as chickens and oxen.
1t Is not too late Tor US to change our hab-
it's in this respect, and save at once our
eyes and our gas bills. We can dine an
hour before sunset and 20 to bed before tn
twilight disappears. IL we get up at sun
rise we shall accomplish quite as much
work In summer as we now accomplish,
and In winter we shall obtain the increased
amount of rest that is necessary to enable
US TO Withstand the cold and the changes
of temperature.
1t has been suggested that our ath tic
sports, while they afford every encourage
ment to the development of legs, arms,
and chests, do nothing for the eyes. II
would therefore be well if we had some
form OF sport which would encourage the
improvement of the eyesight. We might
have eye matches, for example, with l,riz
for those who could see furtherest and
clearest. There could be winking matches,
open to persons of both sexes, for the pur-
pose of strengthening the muscles OF the
eyelid, and government might offer pre-
miums to blue-eyed babies, and thus en-
courage the style of eye which, according
lipte to ant. fnrn rl mar