The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1897-05-27
THE WORLDS BLIND.

7 NN0nGG y 0GNNN6@
curioa. Faets Aboat tho slEhtle.s and the
Care Taken of Them In Various IAnda-
A paragraph Is travelling about 10
the effect that the worlds blind are
computed to number 1000, 600
about one sightless person to every
l, 900 inhabitants. II the proportion
of sightless persons were the same
in every country. or substantially
so. il would be easier TO conclude
that blindness is due to causes which
neither skill nor foresight can ure-
vent. But the truth of the matter,
as has been pointed ont 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 80 per cent of
the afflicted persons could have rc-
tanned their sight had they been
properly treated.
Some figures in corroboration of
this are supplied by the official sta
tistics of both England and France.
By the last reports there were %, 900
sightless persons in England, the
average being $40 for each !. 900. 900
inhabitants. The percentage of
blind persons-among infants of less
than > years was 166 for each
1000, 900; between and Is it rose
to 2SS; between 20 and 25 to 422;
between 45 and 90 TO LEES, and
above 65 years of age :, 900 for each
! LOCO, 600 inhabitants. Similarly in
France the official figures show that
only one-sixth of the sightless were
born blind, and five-sixths became
blind through illness or accident.
I The French official figures further
show that of those born blind 65 per
cent were male and only 35 per cent
female children. Another curious
result shown by the figures Is found
/ in the fact that while the number
/ of blind male and blind female
adults was substantially the same,
the number Of sightless married
men in France is double the number
\ of sightless married women. Less
than 10 per cent of the total num-
ber of sightless persons in France
by the last report were under the
/ age of 2i.
Russia and Egypt are the two
countries in which blind persons
constitute the largest proportionate
number Of the total population-in
I Russia, on account of the lack OF ex-
/ perienced medical attention. and In
/ Egypt on account of ophthalmia,
I due to the movement of the sand by
the wind, or, more properly, TO the
irritation caused by this unusual To-
cal condition, which has made oph-
I thalmia general
There were at last accounts near
| ly 200, 900 blind persons IN European
Russia, the proportion being high
est IN the northern provinces and
conspicuously so in Finland. where
the prevalence of blindness, four
times greater than the general aver
age in Europe, II ascribed To the
fiatness of the country and the i'm
RNAAN@A NNhAAAaLlAAA VI AUt nuts uNttAt
by the peasantry Many of these
huts are either without chimneys or
are supplied with primitive chin
neys, which do not draw, and the
escape of the smoke into the living
apartments has Il marked tendency
to aggravato all eye troubles.
Though more than half the blind
population of Europe i To be found
III Russia there are only % asylums
for the blind in that empire, one
tenth of the total number in Eu-
rope. Though the number of blind
persons in the United States Is less
than one-third as large as the num-
ber 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, ISg. and
the grounds and buildings devoted
to their use were valued at GO, OOO.-
OOO.-New York Sun