Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1907-04-25
MORE WORK FOE HUMAN EYES.
Ready Explanation of the Fact thai
Glasses Are So Commonly Used.


Glasses Are So Commonly Used.
Are our eyes getting worsef' is the
query heard from many in view of the
increasing prevalence of spectacles. BY
no means. AS evolutionists we must
believe that they are gradually grow
ing better in each succeeding genera
ton. Why, then, so many eyeglasses
or spectacles? Merely because there
are so many defective eyes. Nor are
these statements irreconcilable.
We use the eyes more now than for
merly in way to bring out their de-
fects. The illiterate day laborer usu-
ally is without glasses until he be-
comes a marked presbyope quite late
in life-at least late for his class, for
they age sooner than do those more
favored by occupation and environ
ment- If be learns to read and write
and scans the paper daily he wears
glasses sooner.
The illiterake woman likewise first
wears glasses for presbyopia late in
life unless SIC darns socks, sews or
does other near work requiring dis
tinct vision, in which event she begins
the use of them earlier. A fine sieve
is not needed to screen coarse coal.
Even a perfect eye requires aid when
the object to be seen is very minute.
Hence the microscope. Who could do
without its aid to see the minute world
it reveals?
Are our eyes degenerating on that
account? 1t is a question of degree on
the one hand and Of defects on the
other A bundle Of mail, such as Is
usually handled by letter carrier, is
not very heavy for the ordinary man,
but it feels heavier the longer it is
borne These men are not losing their
strength because they avail themselves
of bag slung over the shoulder to
ease the burden. Nor is civilized man
becoming weaker because he uses a
chair with back against which he
can comfortably lean, rather than sit
on an old-style four-legged stool with
out this restful addition.
SOilSIuSI lDlC uCliSiOil HIS' Iutl lIiS
systematic examination of the eyes of
school children and of many corpora
ton employees. Yet no one realizes bet
ter than the child with its first set of
glasses how it eases the work and
brightens the world. | am not an oph-
thalmologist, but a general practition-
er. Nevertheless, l do look into eyes
that seem to me to need it, and | test
them for errors of refraction and l
prescribe glasses when satisfied that l
know what l am doing. When in doubt
l send them to the specialist. Many
a child has been made happier by me
for detecting and correcting defective
vision.
Why do school children find glasses
so useful only to discard them after
leaving school? Simply because they
have greater need for them while
studying. The younger the child the
more does its greater illiteracy require
visual accuracy to distinguish the sep
sarate letters of each word which it
can identify and pronounce only after
analysis into its component parts. AS
its familiarity with smaller words
grows larger ones are continually be-
ing learned while the memory gradu-
ally requires a hold upon the smaller
and earlier learned word forms. AS
the child progresses in its studies if
reads more, then begins to write and
to manipulate figures. Arithmetic is a
greater strain than reading because
each figure must be carefully noted.
Penmanship is also a strain upon the
eyes. When the pupil is far enough
advanced to read by word forms and
write automatically the lessons at
school and the home work in reading.
figuring and composition keep I'D an in
creased demand upon the muscles Of
accommodation. so that it is Il wonder
that even perfectly normal eve does
not tire and make itself known in
some disagreeable way.
Add to all this required strain the
reading of books and of newspapers
and the wonder is that so many get
along as we'll as they do without
glasses.-Dr. Leuf in Medical Record.