The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1902-10-28
HE SENSE OF SIGHT
wv AN INFANT SLOWLY LEARN3
TO EXERCISE IT.


snent of the Power Of vision,
The sense most carly exercised by |
he newborn infant is the sense Of |
ght, but at FIRST ii has the power only |
distinguish light from darkness and |
In comparison with its later deyel- |
Pment blind, while in many of the
fwer creatures the senses are at birth |
billy developed.
What difference there s between
be dull eye OF the newborn infant and
be sharp vision Of the young chick.
hich is able to pick up with precision
grain of corn or even snap up ny
'hile the eggshell may be still stick
" TO its backl The eye OF the infant,
owever, Is developed very gradually,
nd during infancy and childhood 1t
,arns how to see. In the first few days
notices the difference between light
nd darkness when the light is very
ltense, and It may even knit its brow
d sleep II a bright light be brought
lose 10 It's face
On the same principle n striking
right color will also be noticed when
eld close TO the face.
In all these cases, however, the In
ant follows the object by turning its
lead and not by the movement of the
yes.
The eyelids open and shut from birth,
but they are not always moved at the
anne time with the movements of the
,yeballs until the infant has reached
he second or third month. Under two
" three months of age infants do not
wink when the hand or an object is
waved before the face, because they
10 not see the hand distinctly.
One OF the remarkable points of In
crest i'm the development of the in
ant's power of vision Is the way In
which it learns to appreciate the OBJ
lects seen. 1t has to learn to discover
he distance of objects, their shape
iize, character, etc, and this 1t does
with the assistance of the sense OF
touch.
The face Of the mother or nurse is
made familiar I'm that II is brought so
,lose to the infants face.
After the infant has learned TO see
objects distinctly at the distance or
several feet il begins TO use both eyes
In common At first the eyes act inde-
pendently Of each other, so that il 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, II must
also begin to understand objects of
three dimensions-that is, to find out
the difference between n fat surface
and solid body. Here the sense of
touch also assists. The infant grasps
nm object and, putting 1t to its lips and
face, satisfies itself as to the shape
character, etc.
1t is interesting I'm this connection TO
note some cases in which person born
blind recovers sight when grown.
In one case n 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
II 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
tect.
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 as well
as length and breadth. and in this way
he began TO see solid objects.
But even for a year or two after com
plete recovery he was unable to decide
whether n certain figure was fiat sur
face, as I'm a painting, or solid body.
He was also obliged to learn the diff
ferent animals and objects, not know
ing the difference between a cat and a
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 II has conuol over
its eyes and can judge Of the distance
OF objects in the room, etc.
The care Of the eye is q 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 II
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 toe
warm, but the eyes should always be
protected against the bright glare
whether direct or reflected
He Woau,f One of the Two.