Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1901-01-18
READING LYING DOWN.
Here Are Some Arguments to show
II Il Not an Injurious
Practice,

There is no valid reason to be urged
against using the eyes in a proper
manner in recumbent position; such
use is the least tiresome, and can be
persisted in for longer periods with.
out damage than any other position.
We all know, says Everybody's Mag.
azine, that grave damage is often done
by reading in recumbent posture,
but | fear ocuists are largely at
fault. Had it been the universal prac.
tice during the past 20 or 30 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 nearsight
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 tip
ping the book out of plane at right
angles to the line of vision.
1t is common for people to lie down
to read at distance from a good
light, and often the light is not only
poor, but in such direction that II
Is impossible to hold the book prop
erly and illuminate it at all. Some.
times the light is in front, which al
ways throws the print in shadow me-
cessitating a close reading distance,
which is likely to produce cramping
of the ciliary muscles, congestion OF
all the internal structures and perma'
nent progressive nearsight. Or, in or.
der to secure even better light, it Is
necessary to tip the book so that both
the ciliary and extrinsic muscles are
overworked and eye tire soon super
venes.
If, however, everyone reading lying
down will so arrange his lounge or bee
that the light comes over the head
without striking the eyes, and falls
we'll upon the page; if he will hold hi,
book at long reading distance, 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
he can be sure to do his eyes no more
harm than IL 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
possibility of resting and repair in
that position. Those who have tried
it know the benefits accruing, after a
hard days work, from the reading,
which the press of business makes al.
most an absolute necessity, and
have met busy practitioners of medi'
cine who felt the need of this rest
but were afraid to take it because oil
superstition 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 con
geston, especially that of passive
type. 1t has long been recognized
that throwing the head slightly bacl
beyond the perpendicular brought
gravity into play to empty the Choir
oidal veins and those of the uvea
tract, which are principally overfillet
by prolonged eye work, but why w,
have failed to carry this to its logica
conclusion is mystery. 1t is so plail
that carrying the head back to hor
izontal position so absolutely meet
the whole problem of a relief of con
gestion by gravity, and it is very i'm
portant problem, that it seem
strange that we have not been advis
ing all our patients with weak eye
and internal congestions to practice
so far as possible, reading in dorsal
recumbent position, with the hea,
raised only so much as is necessary f
make the position perfectly comfor
table. feel sure that such advice car
ried out with absolute care as to ligh
and the position of the book would i
the case Of thousand busy peopl
add largely to the number of hour
which reading could be INDUCED I
without detriment to the eyes or ger
eral health.