The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-08-16
AEMUNIC1TIONS.

The Law for the Prevention of Blindness To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER: The oppressive summer heat is at its height; the local residents, except the members of the stay-at-home club, are off for their summer vacations; the To- cal, state and national elections are not yet upon us; the international yacht race and athletic contests are events of the future; the humidity is not condu- cive to philosophical disquisitions or original investigations. In short, the season is dull for lively topics for the earnest consideration of the faithful hard working editorial writer Hence I was not much surprised to read your editorial of the 14th inst. upon sore eyed babies. The temptation was too strong to resist. This same baby has | furnished subject matter for many a funny writer even in the cool, calm, l busy winter season.
 1 Now that you have shown what seems l to you the amusing side of the re- | gently enacted law for the prevention of blindness and have had your little fling at the last legislative body, per init me, if you please to present the serious aspect of the sore-eyed baby question and possibly convince you that 1 the legislature in this instance may not have been asinine in passing this par I ticular law.
 | ir,irr f<, 4h.a 1.At,, there were in Europe and the United States 224,245 blind people. The aver age results of Investigators indicate that about 34 per cent of all blindness is due to ophthalmia of the newborn, so that 76,2i3 people existed in the above men, toned countries In a condition of blind ness due to that one disease 10000 If whom should have been enjoying useful vision because ophthalmia of the new | born Is a preventable disease Let us | consider our own country alone. While 1 the population increased from 1870 to 1880. 30.09 per cent, the number of blind increased 140.7s per cent. In fact, the blindness is increasing four times as rapidly as the population, largely due, 1 I presume, to the rapidly increasing | foreign population.
 If the humanitarian view of this ques- tion should fail to appeal to you, per- haps the point of view of the economist might We'll, the cost of caring for tho blind in this country amounts to more than $25,000,000 annually
 Now, as to the desirability of legisla- tion which should force nurses and at tendants to bring these children to the notice of practitioners while the disease is still in the very early stage. The story is a familiar one of the infant being brought to the office of the ocu. list, with the eye ulcerated, or, perhaps perforated. and the mother thinking that the child has taken cold" and re. quires no further treatment than hot water or milk, which has been applied to the eyes. And the scene also is lln- fortunately familiar, of the mother weeping over hopelessly blind child all simply because the nurse haG thought that the infant had merely taken cold. and had been relying upor lsome of the numerous household remc dies just little too long.
 Education of the laity is useless. T has been tried. Urging nurses, profas sional and otherwise, is equally insuffi cient. It remains only to place the ra sponsibility at once where it belong! by imposing upon such persons a SC were penalty. The surest and bes means of accomplishing this is undoubt edly by legislation. This was the view taken by those who have considered i most carefully. and the law passed bN the last Connecticut legislature (anC eight or ten other States) is essentially that recommended by a specially ap pointed committee from the American Ophthalmologica1 Society, and be i "paternal, maternal or grandmaternal' it is right and it will be enforced, ant in years to come there will be. as a re suit, fewer people unable to absorb tn contents of your valuable newspaper by
 direct vision.
 I am confident you would consider Uni law worthy of your encoura cement ant support rather than condemnation i you could attend a large charity ey, clinic some fall day and witness som
 of the distressing scenes as result z
 neglected eyes in infancy.
 H. W. R.