The Tucson citizen., 1902-11-13
THE SENSE OF SIGHT
HOW AN INFANT SLOWLY LEARNS
TO EXERCISE 1T.

The sense most early exercised by
the newborn infant is the sense OF
sight, but at first it has the power only
to distinguish light from darkness and
Is in comparison with it's later devel-
opment blind, while in many of the
lower creatures the senses are at birth
fully developed.
What a difference there is between
the dull eye of the newborn infant and
tg1e sharp vision of the young chick,
which is able to pick up with precision
grain of corn or even snap up "a fly
while the eggshell may be still stick
ing to its back! The eye Of the infant,
however, is developed very gradually,
and during infancy and childhood IT
learns how to see. In the first few days
it notices the difference between light
and darkness when the light is very
intense, and it may even knit its brow
in sleep if a bright light be brought
close to it's face.
On the same principle a striking
bright color will also be noticed when
held close to the face.
In all these cases, however, the In
fant follows the object by turning its
head and not by the movement of the
eyes.
The eyelids open and shut from birth,
but they are not always moved at the
same time with the movements Of the
eyeballs until the infant has reached
the second or third month. Under two
or three months of age infants do not
wink when the hand or an object is
waved before the face, because they
do not see the hand distinctly.
One of the remarkable points of in
terest in the development of the in
fant's power of vision is the way in
which it learns to appreciate the OBJ
iects seen. 1t has to learn to discover
the distance of objects, their shape,
size, character, etc, and this it does
with the assistance of the sense Of
touch.
The face of the mother or nurse is
made familiar in that it is brought so
close to the infants face.
After the infant has learned to see
objects distinctly at the distance Of
several feet it begins to use both eyes
in common. At first the eyes act inde-
pendently of each other, so that it un-
doubtedly has double vision and sees
everything double. This double vision
can be prodr<.ed by many at will by
looking "cross eyed"
The infant having reached the point
when it sees an object clearly, it must
also begin to understand objects Of
three dimensions-that is, to find out
the difference between a fiat surface
and a solid body. Here the sense OF
touch also assists. The infant grasps
an object and, putting it to it's lips and
face, satisfies itself as to the shape,
character, etc.
1t is interesting in this connection to
note some cases in which person born
blind recovers sight when grown.
In one case young man who had
lost his sight in early infancy was so
completely blinded that he could not
distinguish even the strongest light
from darkness.
After on operation on one eye had
been successfully performed he began
to see objects without understanding
them-not being able to judge their
distances from his eye-and he felt as
If everything was touching his eye, SO
that to touch an object he at first
would put one finger or the hand up
before his face. pointing at the object
aimed at, and reach forward until his
finger came in contact with the OBJ
ject.
After he had recovered the use Of
both eyes he began to find out that
everything was not fat. but that many
things had a certain thickness rs Well
as length and breadth, and in this way
he began to see solid objects.
But even for year or two after com
plete recovery he was unable to decide
whether a certain figure was Il fiat sur
face, as in painting, or Il solid body.
He was also obliged to learn the diff
ferent animals and objects, not know
ing the difference between cat and
dog until he had touched them
We all go through just the same proc
The child may be two or three years.
or even older. before it has control over
its eyes and can judge Of the distance
of objects in the room, ETC.
The care of the eye is a question of
great Importance for mothers and
nurses. The eyes Of newborn infants
should be carefully washed with fresh,
clear water, and if anything unusual
is noticed the physician should be seen.
The infants eyes are specially to be
protected against too bright a light. 1t
is by no means an uncommon thing to
see nurse wheeling young infant in
the carriage while the bright sun is
pouring into the child's eyes This does
not argue against taking infants into
the sun when the weather is not too
warm, but the eyes should always be
protected against the bright glare,
whether direct or reflected.