The Elbert County tribune., 1910-05-27
Examination Of Public School
Children for Far=sightendess
and Near=sightedness by
Teachers

Since the enforcement Of the lay by
the general Assembly OF Colorado, enact
ed in 1900 requiring teachers to exam
inc each year the eyes of all public
school children OF the state, much inter
est has been aroused on the subject.
This article has been written in the hope
Of making clearer to those interested
what are the common defects Of sight
their dangers Is well as the suffering
they cause, and the method and lht pro
per time Of correcting these errors of
vision by the use of suitable glasses.
Imperfect eyesight is usually caused
By change in the shape of the eye ball
In sn II proportion OF cases, poor sight
Is duo to disease or injury of the eye
Much can be done by medical taeatment
to improve sight that has been reduced
by disease or injury, but the only way to
relieve eve strain, caused by eyes that are
misshaped, 10 by the use OF glasses.
Far-sight htsdness near r-sightsdness and as
tigmatism are the common names for
defects Of vision known to physicians as
errors Of refraction. In the first condi-
ton the eye is shorter, from the front to
tho back OF the ball, than standard eye
In the second the eye ball is unduly long
while in the third, or astigmstism, some
curve on tn, front part OF the eye ball
is either to full or is flatter than it
should be.
In far sightedness the rays Of light en-
tering the eye tend to focus behind the
retina, Hence all objects looked at form
blurred image on the retina, unless the
eye by straining produces clear retinal
image OF the object viewed. In near
sightedness the rays OF light focus in
front Of the retina, diverging from that
point to produce blurred picture on
the Retina. To overcome the annoyance
and to see clearly in such work as read
ngwriting and sewing the work must be
dome at - closer range than in the case
Of perfectly formed eyes, This unduly
strains the muscles which move the eye
inward.
When one Of the curves Of the front
part OF the eye is fullar than it should
ba, the condition produced is known as
near sighted astigmatism. When curve
is flatter than it should be, far-sighted
astigmatism results. What has been
said Of far and near sightsdnes, therefore
applies to astigmati OF either variety
Only Of all errors Of sight, astigmatism
produces the most eye strain, which pro-
duces headache eyeache nausea, vomit.
ing, infiamed eyes and eyel:ds.
Whom the far and near sightedness or
the astigmatism are slight in amount,
the syesight may be fully up to standard
vision. But it is we'll known fact that
the smaller these errors of reflection are
the greater amount ofeyestrain. Unless
properly fitted glasses are worn, these
defects are apt to increase in amount,
and the disease Of the eye and eyelids
become chronic and headache and dis
turbances Of digestion become a fixed
habit.
To sum up the matter the eye should
be carefully measured for glasses in all
cases Of impaired eyesight, and acheing
eyes and in such reflex nervous disturb
anccs as headache, nausea and vomiting
Glasses should be worn il they improve
the sight, relieve eye ache or if the fam
lily physician cannot find and remove
some other cause for the headache and
stomach trouble complained Of by an
army of sufferers.