Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1907-09-06
MORE WORK FOR HUMAN EYES,

Ready Explanation of the Fact thai
Glasses Are So MINOR Used.
Are our eyes getting worse?" is the
query heard from many in view of the
increasing prevalence of sp%ectacles. By
no means. AS eyolutionists we must
believe. that they are gradually grow
ing better in each succeeding genera
ton. Why, then, SO many eyeglasses
or s~pectacles? Merely because there
are 81 many defective eyes. Nor are
these statements irreconcilable.
We use the eyes more now than for
merly in a way to bring out their de
fects. The illfterate 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
meut- II he learns to read and write
and scans the paper daily he e
glasses DOL
The illiterakp woman likewise first
wear glasses for presbyopia late in
life Unless SIC darns socks, sews or
does other near work requiring dis
llllCt VloiOlk, Ill Which, CNSlI SAC pSSIio
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 mid to see the minute world
it reveals?
Are our eyes degenerating on that
onoo11{9 To e. q r,ncfion of aorroa IN
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 1t feels heavier the longer it is
borne. These men are not losing their
strength because they avail themselves
Of a bag slung over the shoulder to
becoming weaker because he uses a
chair with a back against which he
can comfortably lean, rather than sit
on an oldstyle four-legged stool with
out this restful addition.
Considerable derision first met the
| systematic examination Of the eyes of
school children and Of many corpora
fllou GlHllpk SS.Z III OIG IGdilLeS DCl-
ter than the child with it's first set Of
glasses how it eases the work and
brightens the world. I am not an oph-
t~halmologist, but a general practition-
er. Nevertheless, I do look into eyes
that seem to me to need it, and I test
them for errors of refraction and I
prescribe glasses when satisfied that I
/ y-aNxrv rr,ho& r ov~ dnfpp vyYI,o- ~ .Jo,lA
I 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 initeracy require
visual accuracy to distinguish the sep
arate 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 one are continually be-
ing learned while the memory gradu-
aiLS lC4uilS9 Sia uDOI Tie SulullcI
and earlier learned word forms. AS
the child progresses in its studies 1t
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 up an In
crensed demand upon the muscles OF
accommodation, so that it is Il wonder
that even a perfectly normal eye does
not tire and make itself known In
some d~isagreeable way.
Add to all this required strain the
readis,s of books and Of newspapers
and the wonder is that so many gel
along rs well as they do without
glasseA-Dr. Leuf in Medical Record