The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-07-31
EYES AS INDEPENDENT ORGANS.
An Oculist Claims They Were origi-
nally Placed One in Each Temple.


No thinking man can have failed to no.
tice that nature in providing man with
| two eyes, seems to have acted on a diff
| terent principle from that which has
| guided her in providing him with two
/ ears, two hands and two feet. The ears.
| the hands, and the feet are each IN
! dependent of the other. One hand, for
| example, can be occupied with one thiny
| while the other hand is occupied at the
same time with something else; and
! we can hear on one side of
| the head with one ear, while hear
! ing on the other side with the other
ear. But the two eyes are, so to
| speak, geared together and both of them
must look at the same thing simutane-
| ously Moreover, unlike most other ami
mails, mans eyes are placed so close to-
| gether in the front of his fhead that he
| can see only directly in front of him. The
! bird can watch cat with his left eye and
! keep desirable worm in sight on the
! other side of him with the other eye.
! TheOlOgians have argued that the human
| eye IS so precious that nature has pro-
! vided every man with spare eye, so that
! II he loses one he can still see almost
| equally well with the other An emf
! nent German oculist has, however, lust
| discovered that this is a mistake, and
! that nature never intended that our eyes
! should be placed as close together as they
| are now placed, or that they should be so
| coupled together that they cannot be
be used independently one Of another.
WHEN MAN COULD LOOK TWO WAYS.
According to this oculist, the human
| eyes wer" originally placed one in each
! temple. With this arrangement of eyes
| our remote ancestors were able to see on
| each side of themselves at the same time
! Moreover they could turn one eye to the
! left and see over the left shoulder, while
turning the other eye to the right, so as
! to look over the right shoulder. This
! gave primeval man great advantages in
| his warfare with wild beaets and men of
! hostile tribes, and rendered him less liza
BILE to be surprised by the stealthy ap-
| proach of his wife with the stove lid of
the period. Why the eyes have gradually
| moved to the front of the face, and how it
| has come to pass that they can no longer
be used independently, the German ocu-
| list does not explain in any satisfactory
way. OF course, tbeing ga German, he
| has a theory to account for this change,
but he states it in way so aggressively
scientific that the wayfaring man who is
not profound anatomist and versed in
| every form OF German philosophy cannot
| comprehend the explanation.
Nature has, we are told, tried to rec
| tify the present unfortunate situation of
the human eye by what oculists have
| mistaken for deformity and called by
the formidable name of strabismus. The
! cross-eyed man is, according to this
| theory, merely u man whose eyes nature
has striven to bring back to the origina
| pattern. Any boy who has studied uRder
| a croSs-eyed schoOlmaster will remember
| that masters strange ability to see mis-
| chief that was in progress almost behind
| his back 1t is true that the Cross-eyed
| man cannot nnpOuDla his aVpS and uSa
each of them for different and stimuli
| taneous purposes, but he certainly can
see in directions which the man with So
called normal eyes cannot possibly see.
READING TWO BOOKS AT ONCE.
| Some time ago the German oculist
| found in q Berlin hospital girl whose
| eyes were capable Of Independent motion.
| This fact the short-sighted physician in
| charge of the hospital regarded as de-
| formity, and he called in the oculist to rem
| edy 1t. OF course, the latter was far too
| fond of science to do anything OF the kind
| He made a most thorough study Of the
| girl, and came to the conclusion that her
! endowment in point of eyes was vastly
| superior to that of the average girl. She
| could, without turning her head, see
| around an arc OF fully $50 degrees,
and she could read simultaneously two
| books, one held near her right ear and
! furthermore turn both eyes inward,
| so as to see an object northeast
! of her nose with her left eye, and
| another object northwest of her nose
with the right eye. 1t was clear
! to the oculist that there was girl with
very nearly the same powers of vision
| that were possessed by a man in ages
! long prior to the cave-dwelling era, and,
! filled with enthusiasm, he carried the
| girl to his house, and began long series
! of experiments which convinced him that
| the theory that our eyes were Intended
| to be as independent of one another as
| are our hands is unquestionably true.
Not content with experimenting with
! the girls eyes, the oculist borrowed
cheap boy from an orphan asylum. and,
after year of steady and persevering
! effort, succeeding in uncoupling his eyes,
! so that he now sees in the same extensive
| and independent manner as the girl
| ADVANTAGES OF INDEPENDENT EYES.
From the success of these experiments,
/ the oculist argues that children can be
taught to the independent use of each
eve, and. mankind once more endowed
! with the untoupled eyes that nature or
| iginally intended that we should have.
J That there will be advantages connected
| with the improved method of vision is
| undeniable To the school teacher and
| the Sunday school superintendent it will
| be a manifest gain TO be aole 10 watch
! every part of the school room without
! moving the head. In almost every path
| of life the ability 10 use the left eye for
| one purpose and the right eve for another
| vii! enlarge the powers as well as the
/ vision Of man. The young lady who can
! fix one eye on her admirer and keep the
! other on the door can thus enjoy
/ her lover S society and feel secure against
| the embarrassments which are often
! caused by the entrance Of sudden father
/ or an unexpected brother The clergy
/ man can read bis sermon with one eye
| and keep the choir In order with the
other and the car can review his
! troops with his right eye while constantly
/ revolving The other 10 search Of nihiists
with dynamite bombs. Indeed IL Is DIM
! cult 10 imagine any situation DO which
/ the possession Of two independent Dyes
! viii not be- 90 advantage except perhaps
I t8 the city policeman. who, with the ina
proved rsns would hn1 it more difficult
! than Il now Is fes aaDia tsfiug 70 saloon
/ ouru uu SUNDAY 0r % large though ln the
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