The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-08-20
spEcrAcLEs AND EYEGLASSES.
When They Should and Should Not
BE Needed and Be Worn.

ne NcCNCO ASC w
New York Medical Journal.
Wearing speetacles or eyeglasses out
of doors is always a Disagreement, often
an injury, and seldom a necessity. 1t
is a common thing for people with some
trffing or passing trouble of the eyes
only needing rest to be advised to wear
glasses all the time. If this is done
the ctliary or focusing muscles may get
weak from not having proper WORK ana
spectacles become a necessary eVli.
Those who can be benefited by wear
ing suitable glasses for reading and near
work are many. Few, though, need to
wear them out Of door or In public; IN
deed, more than half who do\so see al
a distance as well as or better Win the
naked eye than with the speetacles'
IF a person's vision for distant oo9eces
| is satisfactory to himself and seems soou
| enough to keep him out OF DANGER inc .
ia no sense in wearing glasses on tne
street or in public. IL the r1gnt grasses
| ore worn for several hours a day while
reading or about the house the eyes will
be rested so much that the useful exer-
else of out-of-door sightseeing may be
taken without the spectacles. As soon
as the eyes feel tired wear them again
! until rested.
Naturally, some eyes need much more
rest than others The nearer perfect the
| fit Of the glasses the longer they can
help more or less, but they do not en-
| tirely relieve the strain Of focusing mus
cles, so they have to be worn nearly all
the time to get all of the little help that
comes with such glasses.
Distant vision requires little work OF
the focusing muscles, and will not cause
distress for hours if these muscles are
perfectly rested beforehand. If glasses
are really needed, reading and near work
should hardly ever be undertaken with
out them, for strain of the focusing mus
eles from this cause often lasts for hours
| or even days.
Glasses are very disfguring to women,
and girls. Most tolerate them because
they are told that wearing them all the
time is the only way to keep from hav-
ing serious eye trouble. If glasses are
all right they will seldom or never have
to be worn in public.
The easiest way to tell whether glasses
are needed, or to find out If they are any.
thing ike right, Is to hold the finest print
about sixteen inches off and right II
front of the eyes, with a good light fall
ing on the print from behind. Keep botf
eyes open during the test, and cover frs
One eye and then the other with caro-
to see If the print looks exactly alike tc
each eye. If 1t does there Is as YET
nothing wrong enough to pay any at
tention to- After the f1ftieth year this
test will show the slightest imperfections
If one under thirty finds the print unlike
or is unable to read with comfort, some
thing is badly wrong. The complicated
tests all have their places, but this test
is given to the general practitioner, anG
is about all that he needs to find out JUS
what Is wrong. man may see the
print alike with bad eyes or wrong
glasses; but he cannot see the print alike
and read with comfort unless the eyes
are about right, or made so by glasses
The cheap glasses in the stores suit about
half of the people. They do no harm
and cannot be improved upon If this tes
shows nothing wrong.
Perfectly fitting glasses take every BIZ
of strain off the focusing muscles and
balance and ease and give the eyes Their
proper exercise, even in moderate read
ing. On the surface this looks as If good
glasses ought to be worn all the time
but this Is far from right, for such
glasses do so much of the work of the
focusing muscles that these would be
come weak from not having proper work
| Until late in life the focusing mechan.
ism IS so powerful that it can make the
sight of a very imperfect eye, or from
q badly lifting glass, about perfect. This
Is owing to the soft crystalline lens. Late
in life the lens hardens, when even Sigh
imperfections give trouble In reading
then perfectly fitting glasses are all the
more necessary else too strong glasses
have to be used and the print magnifed
SO ulQcn tDdC only one eye IS USED, fO
the more print Is magnified the closer
and closer it must be held to the eyes
The aged cannot hold print close like
children and still read with both eye,
at the same time. Old people who holC
print close read with only one eye
glass that magnifles a little bit, OIL
a weak astigmatism glass. will give more
or less relief to more than half who need.
SpectacleS. These glasses will by right:
fit few-in fact, their true use is very
limited, for they suit only the simples
imperfections of the eyes-yet about hall
who wear glasses all the time have JUS
some such compromise. Neither knowl
edge nor skill is required to prescribe
SUCH Just such glasses and such fits a.
these have made, and for a long time
will make, fat sinecures for travelling
spectacle experts and quack opticians
The old rule, Wear glasses all the
time" should be changed to "wea
glasses just as little as possible Somt
wear spectacl5s for years, and then b.
lucky chance lose them, only to find tina
they get along better without. Aftel
wearing glasses only q few days many
find that the print looks worse to thu
naked eyes than before. This Is a SUR
way to tell that glasses are wrong. Mos
people with troublesome imperfectiOn!
of the eyes cannot leave their glasses of
even for an hour or so without discom
glasses. The right glasses can be pu
and no more discomfort following thar