The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1902-11-06


The sense most early exercised by
the newborn infant Is the sense Of
sight, but at first II has the power only
to distinguish light from darkness and
is in comparison with its later devel-
opmcnt blind. while In many of the
lower creatures the senses are at birth
fully developed.
What Il difference there Is between
| the dull eye of the newborn infant and
| the sharp vision of the young chick,
which Is able to pick up with precision
| n grain Of corn or even snap up 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 1t
| learns how to see. In the first few days
| 1t notices the difference between light
and darkness when the light is very
| intense. and 1t may even knit its brow
In sleep If bright light be brought
| close to its face.
On the same principle a striking
bright color will also be noticed when
| held close to the face.
| III Hll llltSt tdStS' uONtNtls lut
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
| tects seen. 1t has to learn to discover
i 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 I'M
| doubtedly has double vision and sees
everything double. This double vision
can be produced by many at will by
| looking ''cross eyed"
| The infant having reached the point
| when it sees an object clearly, 1t must
also begin to understand objects of
three dimenslons--that is, to find out
| the difference between n fiat surface
! and a solid body Here the sense of
| touch also assists. The infant graspS
an object and, putting it TO its lips and
| character, etc.
| 1t is interesting in this connection to
note some cases in which person born
blind RECEIVERS 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
ffnv. hn hnI ~
both eyes he began to find out that
everything was not fat, but that many
| things had a certain thickness as 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 fat sur
face, as in painting, or 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
ess Of learning how to see in infancy.
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 tn the room, etc.
The care of the eye is 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 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.
He Wasn't One of the Two.
/ oil