The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-06-21
HELPING THE SIGHT
BY FREDERIC J. HAsKIN.

The American Association of Opticians
will meet in Atlanta today. There are
many subjects that will occupy the at
tention of the association, not the least
/ important being the best method of rid
ding the profession of takers. Another
matter TO be considered is that of seCur-
1 Ing uniform state legislation to put the
I opticlan profession on footing with
that of the physician. 1t is probable that
no other profession has grown i'm impOr-
| lance so rapidly in the past ten years as
has that of the optician. There are now
so many Of Chem that they support three
different periodicals devoted solely to
optical interests
That America is fast becoming d ma
ton of weak eyes is Conclusively shown
by the experiences of the school author
tiles of many cities. 1t was recently es-
ttmated that there were 5000 children i'm
the schools of New York vino Were i'm
need of glasses either to relieve eve
strain or defective vision. Tt was esti-
mated that it would cost $4,000 properly
10 fit these children with glasses, Of
which $4,000 would 90 10 the opticians
Tor consultations and 5000 would repre-
sent the cost Of the glasses. Il was sug-
gested that the parents of those able to
pay for glasses for their children should
DO so. and that the city should supply
the needy But the school authorities
held that such q course would make il
embarrassing for the INDECENT. so the
glasses were bought for all for whom
they were really necessary. Il was held
that II was a cheap investment to buy
the glasses, since were the pupils fitted
with glasses they would - better able
to take advantage of the educational OPP
portunities of the city
It is said that the dullness of many
pupil is not at all due to a lack of brain
power. but TO eye trouble It has been
found that many of the little sufferers
from headaches get them as a result of
disorders of the eve rather than from
mr. of hlo
found that where these eve disorders are
corrected the children entirely recover
from thir headaches. and in many cases
dull children develop into the brightest
pupils in school.
It is much of problem to the layman
whether the eyes of the people are be
coming weaker or whether It is simply
a case of their being awakened to the
need of glasses. At any rate. it IS said
that there are three people in the United
States and Canada today wearing glasses
for every one that wore them twenty-five
years ago. The opticians say that IT is
case of the people awakening to the
needs Of their eyes, and they are writing
much i'm their papers discussing the ways
and means best suited Co reaching the
public and impressing il with the need
Of glasses.
The opticians have been progressive to
a degree in the perfection of instruments
for assisting them in studying the all
mentS of the eve. One of the newer con-
triVanCes is for phOtOgraphing the in
terror of the eye Another unusual inven-
ton recently used in Germany is known
as the Observation-Disclosures 1t con-
sists Of a portable cylindrical electric
light Of about eighty candlepOwer, with
self-contained tube for water cooling
This lamp is connected with a battery
The patient places the tube in the mouth,
back as far as possible, and up against
the roof. The light is then turned tOn.
and the retina is highly illuminated.
Looking through the pupil the Optician
is able exactly to see the trouble and to
learn the precise condition of the MEM
branes and nerves of the eye.
Spectacles were first used in the west
ern world about tine thirteenth century
Most authorities claim that it was Roger
Bacon who discovered the principle. 9th
ers accredit il to other sources. while
many say that China was using eye
glasses before the Christian era For a
lcng time the wearing of glasses was
vigorously opposed by the church. The
vicar of Chew Magma. for instance, Op-
posed them. on the ground that their use
was immoral, causing men and women to
see things from a different viewpoint
from that of the rest of the world. II is
said that the development of the eyeglass
to its modern state OF excellence IS due
more to the astronomer than to the ply
stefan. Dealing with angles Of vision and
with lenses, it was natural that he should
learn much about SpeCtdCles.
One gets a. glimpse of the progress
which is being made in the opticians pro-
fession by walking through an up-to-date
optical store. or visiting the oculist. The
latter writes out his prescription with all
the exactness of the physician who is
prescribing cyanide of potassium or other
deadly drug There are instruments of
all kinds for examining the eye an eX-
actly determining its needs. In many
cases a lens of certain power is fitted to
the patients left eve while his right may
require a much stronger or weaker. or a
concave and a convex lens are used in
the same frame. How different is the
modern way from the old one Of walking
into store and trying on one pair of
spectacles and then another until the ones
which fit best were found. In the obscure
districts TO this day there are families in