Evening journal., 1902-11-12
HOW INFANTS
LEARN TO SEE
AT First Newborn Babe Has
the Power Only to Dis
tinguish Light


The newborn infant is the sense Of
sight. but at srst it has the power only
10 distinguish light from darkness and
is in comparison with its later deyel
opment blind. while 10 many OF the
Tower creatures the senses are at birth
fully developed.
What q difference there is between
the dull eye Of the newborn infant aud
the sharp vision of the young chick.
(which is able to pick up with precision
n grain Of corn or even snap up a hy
while the eggshell may be still stick
ing to its baclll 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
1t notices the difference between light
and darkness when the light is very
intense. and it may even knit its brow
i'm sleep if a bright light be brought
close to its face.
On the same principle a striking
bright color viii 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 eyellds 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
fants power of vision is the way in
which it learns to appreciate the OBJ
jects 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 sec
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 produced by many at will by
looking ''cross eyed"
| The infant having reached the point
when it sees an object clearly, it mus
also begin to understand objects Of
three dimensions-that Is, to find ou
the difference between a fiat surface
and solid body Here the sense o.
touch also assists. The infant graspi
an object and, putting it to its lips an,
lface, satisfies itself as to the shape
character, etc.
1t is interesting in this connection &
note some cases in which a person borl
blind RECEIVERS sight when grown.
In one case n young man who ha'
lost his sight in early infancy was s.
completely blinde&that he could no
distinguish even the strongest ligh
from darkness.
After on operation on one eye hat
been successfully performed he begal
to see objects without understanding
them-not being able to judge thei
distances from his eye-and he felt a
IL everything was touching his eye, s
that to touch an object he at frs
would put one finger or the hand n
before his face, pointing at the objec
aimed at, and reach forward until hi
finger came in contact with the OF
ject.
After he had recovered the use o
both eyes he began TO find out tina
everything was not fat, but that man
things had a certain thickness as wei
as length and breadth. and in this wa,
he began to see solid objects.
But even for year or two after com
plete recovery he was unable to decid
whether q certain figure was a fiat SUI
face, as in painting, or a 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 yearl
or even older. before it has control owe
its eyes and can judge Of the distanc
Of objects in the room, etc.
The care Of the eye is a question G
great Importance for mothers an
nurses. The eyes Of newborn infant
should be carefully washed with fresl
clear water. and If anything unusu'
IS noticed the physician should be seel
The infants eyes are specially to /
protected against too bright light.
is by no means an uncommon thing
see a nurse wheeling young infant
, the carriage while the bright sun
pouring into the child's eyes. This dos
not argue against taking infants inl
, the sun when the weather is not tC
( warm. but the eyes should always
, protected against the bright glar
whether direct or reflected.