The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1892-03-10
Written for THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE. !
HEALTH BINTS
For Old and Young.
BY FELIX L. OSWALD. II. D.
CHAPTER CXXXIV.
WEAK EYEsIGHT.

/
mich were invited to adorn the Polytechnic In
stitute with symbolic designs representing each
age Of the worlds history by some appropriate
juvenile figure.
"In that case, said Professor Piloty." would
symboizethe Palestine OF the patriarchs by the
! type Of a shepherd boy, Greece by young ath-
lete, and the Christian civilization of the nine
tecnth century by a schooboy wearing liver
pad and pair Of blue spectacles."
The prevalence OF weak eyesight among
children is, indeed, so strictly proportional to
the habit ofindoor occupations that the greatest
number Of specialized youngsters can DO found
! in Berlin, Boston, and Manchester the chief
centers ofprecocious learning and factory work.
! Grammar school boys Of eight years abound i'm
! the larger cities Of northern Germany. Ambi-
! tous scholars often enough finish the course OF
all preparatory schools and enter the university
\ IN their teens, aud parish school houses swarm
\ with babies who have been saddled with states
aud schoo-books merely 10 rid their parents
/ Of their troublesome presence, and in Vienna
many Of these poor waits, driven of like starv-
! ing cattle 10 an overcrowdcd community pas
! ture. were found TO be In such depOrable state
! of emaciaton that the municipal authorities,
1 i'm sheer pity, were compelled 10 furnish them a
! free plate of soup and slice of bread In addi-
/ ton 10 free school books and fuel.
/ Ia New England things are not much better
the compulsory education law of certain fac
I tory towns having proved, what a correspondent
I the Boston Herald calls an evil in disguise"
! and in the manufacturing districts OF north
! England legislative provisions have thus far
wholly failed to proven. the violation Of the In
! FAINT Labor Act. Children OF seven and eight
! years arc often Struggled in among the herd OF
. la & 4 g4sF
/ i'm dusty cotton factories aud neither parents
nor employers shrink from prevarications in
\ answering the questions Of a troublesome com
missioner. Babies Just able TO thread the
shuttle Of a small loom, are made 10 represent
/ their elder brothers; neighbors subon the
] fraud and in the worst case the suspected
youngster can be made TO work at homei pick
! ing shoddy or sorting tobacco leaves.
Among children OF that class weak eyesight
often reaches the enormous proportions Of 81
4 per cent; T. e., only a little more than half OF a
4 given number OF youngsters, fairly able 70 read
1 and write, can manage 20 distinguish ordinary
4 sized letters AZ a distance OF 80 inches. Many
Of them complain Of pains IN their eyes, and the
proposed remedies too often suggest the smile
/ Of the man who tried 10 eNtluSulsh a NE D.
| smashing the tire-bels."
Eve. waters and ointments fail 10 reach the
cause Of the eyl-the general impairment OF
/ organic vitality. The maryelOusly complex
and delicate mechanism Of the human eye ia
affected by all sorts Ofderangcments IN the gem
/ cral economy OF the system-a fact well Illus
trated by the everyday experience OF adults.
| Painting Cts axe foreshadOwed by sudden
| dimuoss division:
&" dark ching vail his eyes Ger hung,
Ills cars with hollow muImurs rung,"
and by terror or intense pain, the faculty OF
/ sight is sometimes entirely eclipsed for min
utes together. Drunken men will mistake a
! pumphandle for tho outstrctchCd arm Of an
| assassin a dose OF qunine can evolve cloud
/ Of uhautoms, and fever patients and the vic
] tins Of standardization share the experience
of seeing double. Sufferers from weak eyes
might often observe the suggestive fact that
their alment is aggravated by any cause Of
general debility. in cool, "bracing" weather
/ their ewes may seem 10 have been rejuyenated,
but will get dim again in sultry Summer and
1 after dietetic surfcit
In nine out Of ten case the cure OF weak
eyes should, therefore, begin with the attempt
10 restore the impaired vigor Of the general or
ganisfn DO not clinch the doom Of blinking
youngster by csging his eyes IN speciacles. but
/ take him out 10 the hills aud woods let him
pass every hour Of his leisure in outdoor sports
! or, ON rainy DAYS, find him some sort Of indoor
/ employment not apt 10 strain his eycsight 10 a
damaging extent, amateur carpentcTing, for
4 instance or the removal Of furniture from one
room 10 the other etc.
Woodland rambles have an almost magic
effect In restoring vigor Of eyesighti but the
] keen vision Of hunters is riyalled by that Of
sailors, especially Of the mparatively temper
\ ate Norwegian and Spanish type, and il would
almost seem As If the efficiency Of human optics
could be improved TO any desired extent by
exercising tho faculty OF farsightedness. There
are old mariners who can indicate the rig q"
aud the nationality Of vessel nc distance
which, % an Impractical eye reveals nothing
4 but the faint outline of a sail. TuTkOmau hun
tiers can count the number OF bucks in a herd
Of autelopos from a d istauce Of an English mile
! and every regiment Of soldiers has a veteran
! whose old eyes enable his younger comrades TO
/ dispense with theuse Of a telescope. "Old Cali
1 GOrnia Joe" asAarpshOoting volunteer from the
4 Trinity River hunting-grOuuds, was a phe-
4 nOmeuon Of that sort in the Union army, and
4 Mai. MeI.aws Of Georgia, on the other side. He
/ could tell blue from gray before other men
were able % distinguish any colOrs az all, and
/ eyewitness testify 10 the fact that one day
! he called Gen. Lees attention 70 the removal
Of a battery 10 the top Of hill on the flank Of
the Union position. The General aud a mum
Der Of his staff officers pulled out their telescopes,
but declared that they could see nothing but A
number Of blue-coats moving about ledge Of
rocks near the summit Of the Hill. They were
just going 10 send an Orderly 10 the top Of a
halfway ridge when pua OF gray smoke from
+ Tie summit OF tue Took Was lD4lUNeu Dy
the boom Of a six-pounder. Dye hear that,
Geueral2 DO you think now ] am rightY"
chuckled McIaVs why, certainly; / had
doubt Of il all along. said the courteous Eir-
ginian.
Now and then faT-seers Of that type continue
% reconcile the preservation OF their talent
with a good deal Of indoor work. but they are
not often men OF literary tastes, though Baron
/ Frederick Naldeck, the author Of a vOlumin-
Gus work on the antiquities of Central Amer
ica, could dispense with spcctacles IN reading
and answering bushG of congratulations re-
ceiyed on the morning OF his huudroth birth
day.
With rare exception, the habit OF porting over
the microscopic print Of our modern news
papers ayengcs itself in the impairment Of eye
sight, aud the best plan In such eases seems the
eXpcdcnt Of a ncghbor Of mine, who uses the
eye-killing dAilies only for wrapping paper,
and on Saturday nights gets has seven days
allowance 0fnews from some large-type weekly,
likeTHE SAsIoNAL TRIBUNE Spectacles mi ght
solve the problem Ia another way, but the trou.
bic is that Eyeglasses. like stimulating drugs,
tend 10 aggrayate cur dependence on artificial
sght-makcrs.
The "blue-giass craze" included the belief
In the possibility Of caring weak eyes, il not
blindness by the use Of sky-biue windows, aud
there Is doubt that the glare Of electric
lights, at least might be made less affective by
some modification Of that sort. C0al-Oil lamps
too, have been rather Oyer-impTOyed, and per-
sous with feeble eyes have often been benefited
by the simple plan Of covering the cupoa with
d screen Of light blue tissue paper.
ITO be continued