Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1888-11-09
PHENOMENA OF THE EYE.
REMARKABLE ATTRIBUTES OF
THE VISUAL ORGAN
The Bad Opaque Eye-How Turks
Enlarge the Eye-ValuabIe Hints
for strengthening Weak Eyes.


In an interesting article on the eye,
Shirley Dare says in the Nal and Er-
press l wish to be understood now as
speaking, not as writer or admirer of
sex, but from the point of scientific OBJ
servation, when | say that he revelations
of physical. mental and affectional con
ditions made by the eye are as rem4rka-
BILE as any phenomena of nature.
Take, for instance, a young sensitive
person of consumptive habit, in ordinary
health and in love. Watch the eyes of
such one, and you will see as pretty e
specimen of phosphoric light as that
which plays about certain flowers in full
bloom. The state of nervous excitement
uses up the phosphorus OF the body
pretty fast, and it will fash behind the
eyelids like the fire on summer waves
Botanists and other people have seen the
mimic flashes white lily three DAYS
blown will send from it's petal on warm
electric summer night. have seen as
literal flash leap between the eyelids of
a lad of twenty-five, dead in love as he
could be with an absent woman. He
was nervous, tride poetic and over
strung, his eyes dllated, changeful after
giittering like a cats. In short, human
battery, overcharged with nervous cleo
Italian actor, Rossi, l have noticed the
same flash which appeared to leap from
the eye, not play like sheet lightning
with it. But then Rossi was as highly
electric as human beings are, in normal
condition. Love and genius both are
literally a combustion of nervous force,
and the eye is the peep hole of the fire
in the brain.
Somebody ought to write a novel
about people with Opaque eyes, those
black or dark blue eyes which are trans
parent as so many Swiss pebbles. They
are eyes of intensely passionate natures,
strong for good or evil, but with tenden-
cies the wrong way, the eyes of born
devils in human shape. When such dull
dark eyes show the red light that comes
of caution, insanity in its first stages is
at work on the brain, and such a man or
woman needs care life long. or some
crisis of trouble may lead to an outbreak
of madness. 1t is the eye of one likely
in frenzy to commit mansaughter.
The most beautiful eyes in the world
are the clear gray, with large pupils, and
iris which changes and darkens with
feeling as from the shadow of cloud.
The steadiness, brllliance and suscepti-
bility of such eyes are index to the rarest
intelligence, quick and accurate, and the
high romantic sentiments which in such
characters become passions. Truth.
liberality, loyalty, are the vital breath of
such spirits, but alas those eyes are not
of the long-lived. Dust is over them al
most before we can say we have known
them for our own. The blush white of
the eye betokens consumption before its
hectic brightness alarms with unearthly
beauty, and the loss of color in the pu-
pill, turning brown instead of black, is
caused by heart disease.
The Turks regularly cut open the
outer corner of the eyelids, if the eyes
of a girl are not large enough for their
ideas of beauty, and inferior eyes can be
gradually enlarged by gently drawing
the lids apart, day after day, and bath
ing them in cool, soft water. The
stronger the eye the larger it will
seem, for the first instinct of weak eyes
is to contract and spare themselves from
light. Americans ruin their eyes with
too much newspaper reading. The
enormous tax of going over twenty col
umns of close print daily. besides Office
work, is more than human organs can
bear. One uses his eyes more in this
way in month than our forefather's
did in a years study over black letter
AOllOS' 1NCIOlh9 AOHS 1IAcS Ou d w 1UC
page is trying to the sight, as there is
change of focus necessary in following
the lines which is positively hurtful. SO
says B. Joy Jetfries, of the Massachusetts
Eye and Ear Infrmary, who gave the
warning that the eyes of school children
were steadily injured by defective books,
desks and lights.
To have beautiful, slightly eyes, we
must have strong, sound ones and avoid
a causes of harm. Never read, write
or work with the light from window in
front of the eyes. Artisans jure their
sight past recovery by working at a
bench directly in front of a window,
when they should be placed with the
back to it. The light in front falls into
the eye, which contracts to lessen what
it cannot bear, with the invariable re-
suit of weakened sight. Lamps, gas iets
and student lamps are often placed so
near the head as to heat the eyes injuri-
ously. The simplest shade stops this by
making a current of air between itself
and the lamp. Heated rooms weaken
the eyes; so do small bonnets which do
not shade the face; so does a glare of
light, or light that is too dim. In short
the eyes need a great deal more care
than they get. III health of any
sort weakens them. Going with cold
feet causes more harm to the eyes than
anyone ever suspects, and many cases of
weak eyes are relieved at once by hot
foot baths and thick stockings. The
sight is often strengthened by applica-