The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-07-04
Few Know Why They are Under
the Necessity Of Wearing
"Specs."
An Expert Optician and Oculist Talks Of
His Professionalism Very Valuable
Information.

WoIGs yOUI way w q 0NAA Va kAA0SSAAAAA >
disks, and feel away until You find those
that suit7 asks the New York Times.
There is collection of pertinent-per-
haps you might consider them impertinent
questions which the all pervadina emu
merator might have, but probably did not,
ask you in the course of his wanderings
about town. It is not absolutely necessary
that you should answer them now, except,
perhaps, to answer your own aroused Curl
osity on the subject, for the object of the
few observations which follow is to enlight-
en- you, if you need enlightenment, and to
strengthen your own previously acquired
knowledge if you don't.
The eyes, not alone your own, but those
of the fairest girl in the world, are appar-
emily good deal like Joey Bagstock's os-
tentatious liver-they're ''devilish queer"
Some of them, of course, are just as perfect
as anything human could be, but others OF
them are obstreperous, apt to give trouble,
and wholly rebellious. They cut the queer.
est pranks-as any love-siok swain can tell
you-get out of order, make themselves
nuisance, and take great pains to make lie
an appalling burden.
hands-fguratively speaking.of course-ln
this manner it becomes the duty of the oc-
Mist and the optician to reduce them to
subsection and to make them feel that they
are not the uncontrolled, glittoring auto
Gratis they think themselves. And the ocu.
the optician, do pretty much with refrac-
tory eyes as Prof. Gleason does with the
unruly horses which are brought to him to
subdue. He examines and prescfibes Just
as any physician would examine any per-
son suffering from liver complaint or bleed
he Tho 1ruupict fila the T111v.
sician's prescription; the optician fills that
of the oculist.
One of the best known opticians is Mr..
Arthur Pratt, who is an oculist as we'll. He
has had long and varied experience in the
treatment of defective eyes and has done
much to relieve the Necessities optical
necessities-of many, MANY persons. He
was good enough to talk to a Times reporter
the other day about eyes, glasses and the
combination of the two, and the informa-
tion impaired by him is the basis of this,
which Isl termed collection of observa-
tlons.
The three chief ocular defects which the
oculist is called upon, not exactly to rem
edy. for that is impossible, but to regulate
by the use +s OF Lenses disguise
the ordinary intellect with the lovely names
of myopy, hypermetropia and myopic and
hypermetropic astigmatism. To the ordin-
airy persons the first two Of these formid-
.nblysnaInetf s1effectts nrs short sigh tsdness
and long -sightedness, and the third has no
The eye in it's normal state is nearly Z
perfect sphere, almost an inch in diameter,
through which the rays of light enter and
come to focus exactly on the retina. But
lots of people are born with eyeballs too
they reach the retina. Such people are
short-sighted. Lots Of other people are
born with the eyeballs too short and such
people are long sighted. Both classes have
to wear glasses in order that they may get
along in the oadinary way .Es and that in the
oculist "comes in.' It is he who, if the af-
flicted one is wise and consults him, exam
ines and prescribes, and it ia the optician
who fills the prescription.
Then come the persons with irregular
corneas-another technical term which
means the outer surface of the eye-who
either see horizontal lines and can't see
vertical lines. or who can see vertical lines
and can't see horizontal lines, and these
generally have a hard time of it, for the
ordinary glasses don't do them any good.
one or more of the muscles of whose eyes
are weak, and be they never 30 temper
ate, are continually seeing double. The
weakness of one muscle makes it impossible
for the impressions received on the eyes to
harmonize, and SO such people see two OBJ
to say the least, unpleasant.
Now all these things are readily remedied
by the competent oculist. To the short
sighted individual he prescribes concave
lens and that person sees with as perfect a
vision as if he had never heard of myopia.
A convex lens will make q long sighted
gentleman a medium and all right -sighted
gentleman; ''cylindricaP' lens will make
a so-burdened individual forget all about
his astigmatism, and what the person ham
pered by weak muscle need and gets is
just a prism-a prismatic lens.
Any one of these defects, one would inn
agine, would be an amply generous burden
for any one man to carry about with him
continually. But Mr.. Pratt has had the
unique experience of filling out an oculist's
prescription, calling for pair of glasses
which would combine in one pair of lenses
cures for three separate and distinct defects
in one pair of eyes. The unfortunate but
subsequently relieved individual for whom
these glasses were prescribed was short.
sighted, one of his optic muscles was weak,
and he suffered from hypermetropic astig-
matism. When he went to the oculist for
advice he was laboring under the impress
sion that he had more defects than ewes,
and was sore distressed.
The examination and subsequent treat
ment resulted in giving him great joy and,
while he wore his combination glasses, per-
feet sight. There were constructed for his
use lenses that were convex, Cylindrical
and prismatic. The prism and the ..cylin-
der''-it isn't a cylinder in the real sense of
the word. out just thick lens of peculiar
properties-were, by a process known to OBJ
ticians, ground into the convex lens and
when the operation was concluded thew
were handed to the patient a pair Of
glasses which, to the casual observer, pre-
sented no unusual appearance, even though
they did combine SO many corrective ap-
pliances. They were little thicker at the
ho yuoann-aha
had b...s ground in the simple lens, but
that was all the outward difference and
they made their owner gee as well as II he
possessed the most perfect eyes in the
world.
Another queer optic complication was
that of person who WAS short-sighted in
one eye and long sighted in the other. Both
defects were very slight at first. 80 that not
much Inconvenience was felt. But after a
while this Inconvenience increased, and he