The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1897-05-27
THE WORLDS BLIND.

curious facts ABOUT the SlghtIesS ana the
Care Taken of Them In Various Lands.
A paragraph is travelling about tc
the effect that the worlds blind are
computed to number 1000, 000-
about one sightless person to every
1900 inhabitants. If the proportion
of sightless persons were the same
IN every country, or substantially
20, it would be easier to conclude
That blindness is due to causes which
neither skill nor foresight can pre-.
vent. But the truth of the matter,
as has been pointed out by a distin.
guished German oculist, is that the
great majority of cases of blindness
are due to Fever, and the same au.
thorities declare that rs per cent OF
the afflicted persons could have re.
tanned their sight had they been
properly treated.
Some figures in confederation of
this are supplied by the official sta
tistics of both England and France
BY the last reports there were 90, 00O
sightless persons in England, the
average being $40 for each 1000, 00C
inhabitants. The percentage OF
blind persons among infants of less
than 5 years was 1876 for each
1000, 900; between and Is it rose
to 2SS; between 20 and 25 to 422
between As and 60 to 1926, and
above 65 years of age 1000 for each
1000, 600 inhabitants. Similarly in
France the official figures show thai
only onesixth of the sightless were
born blind, and five-sixths became
blind through illness or accident
The French official figures further
show that of those born blind IS PEI
cent were male and only 35 per cen
female children. Another curiou
result shown by the figures is fount
in the fact that while the numbe
of blind male and blind femal
adults was substantially the same
the number of sightless marrie
men in France is double the be
of sightless married women. Les
than 10 per cent of the total nun
Der of sightless persons in Franc
by the last report were under til
age of q.
Russia and Egypt are the tw
countries in which blind person
constitute the largest proportional
number of the total population
Russia, on account of the lack of ea
perienced medical attention, and i
Egypt on account of ophthalmia
due to the movement of the sand b,
the wind, or, more properly, to tn
irritation caused by this unusual 10
cal condition, which has made oph
thalmia general. 0
There were at last accounts near
ly 200, 900 blind persons in European
Russia, the proportion being high
est in the northern provinces ant
conspicuously SO in Finland, where
the prevalence of blindness, fou,
times greater than the general aver
age in Europe, is ascribed to tn,
fairness of the country and the i'm
perfect ventilation of the huts uset
by the peasantry. Many of these
huts are either without chimneys OF
are supplied with primitive chin
neys, which do not draw, and thu
escape of the smoke into the living
apartments HAS marked tendency
to aggravate all eye troubles
Though more than half the BLIND
population of Europe is to be found
in Russia there are only 25 asylums
for the blind in that empire, one
tenth of the total number in Ed
rope. Though the number of blind
persons in the United States is less
than one-third as large as the mum.
Der in Russia, the number of in.
mates of blind asylums in the Unit.
ed States is larger than in any 9th
er country of the world. By the
last reports the total number of pu.
pills in institutions for the blind in
the United States was 3,4S9, and
the grounds and buildings devoted
to their use were valued at So, OOO,.
W0.-New York Sun.