Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-11-24
READING LYING DOWN.
Arguments to Show 1t is Not an In
furious Practice.
From Fyerybodv's Maps1;po

Arguments to Show 1t is Not an In
furious Practice.
From Everybody's Magazine.
There Is no valid reason to be urged
against using the eyes in proper manner
in a recumbent position; such use is the
least tiresome. and can be persisted in for
longer periods without damage than any
other position. We all know that grave
dan:age is often done by reading in a re-
crmbent posture, but ] fear oculists are
largely at fault. Had it been tn universal
practice during the past twenty or thirty
years to give careful directions how to read
lying down instead of saying to one and all.
You must not read lying down." there
would be less nearsght and better eyes in
the community than now exist. Three
easily avoided errors cause all the damage
possible from reading lying down, the first
often leading to the other two. They are
insufficient or wrongly directed light, short
reading distance and tipping the book out
Of a pane al right angles to the line of
vision.
1t is common for people to lie down to
read al distance from a good light, and
often the light is not only poor, but in such
a direction that it is Impossible to hold the
book properly and illuminte it at all. Some
times the light is in 'front.' which always
thI rows the print in shadow, neccssitatinS
a close reading distance, which Is likely to
produce cramping of the clliary muscles,
cOnSeSllDn OF All lilc Intern StI uStuieS anu
permanent progressive nearsight Or, in
order to secure even fair light, ii is neces-
sary to tip the book that both the ciiary
and eXtrinsic muscles are overworked and
eye-tire soon Supervenes.
If however, every one reading lying down
viii so arrange his lounge or bed that the
light comes over the head without striking
tie eyes, and falls Wen upon the page; II
he will hold his book at a long reading dis
tance and take care that the line of letters
shall be at right angles to the line Of vision,
all of which may require book-rest, ne
can be sure to do his eyes no more harm
than If he were sitting up. More than this,
there is a large credit In favor Of reading
lying down. The recumbent posture allows
more rest of all the bodily structures than
the sitting posture, and there is greater
nos sibi,ity of resting and repair in that po-
sition. Those who have tried 1t know the
benefits accruing, after hard days work,
from the rest possible when doing long
night of reading, which the press Of bust
ness makes almost an absolute necessity,
and 1 have met busy practitioners OF medi-
cine who felt the need of this rest. but
were afraid to take it because Of a super
stition that they might ruin their eyes.
One more fact Is to the credit side of the
score. Whenever possible we bring gravity
into play to relieve congestion, especially
that of a passive type. 1t has long been
recognized that throwing the head slightly
back beyond the perpendicular brought
gravity into play to empty the choroidal
veins and those Of the uveal tract, which
are principally overtilled by prolonged eye
work, but why we have failed to carry this
to its logical conclusion is a mystery. 1t
is so pain that carrying the head back to
a horizontal position so absolutely meets the
whole problem of relief Of congestion by
gravity, and it is a very important prob
lem, that it seems strange that We have not
been advising all our patients with weak
eyes and internal congestions to practice,
so far as possible, reading in a dorsal, re-
cumbent position, with the head raised only
so much as is necessary to make the posi-
ton perfectly comfortable l feel sure
that such advice carried out with absolute
care as to light and the position of the
book would in the case Of a thousand busy
people add largely to the number of hours
which reading could be INDUCED in without
detriment to the eyes or general health.