The Washington herald., 1912-01-28
Care of Children's Eyes Important
And Can Easily Be attended To

and had little lunch. This same eondi-
ton is present to some extent IN every
large city. Needless to say, a child must
nave the most nourishinE food. and in
abundance; for not only must the body
repair waste, but It must grow.
know OF cases in which. IL being IN
convenient to put up a lunch at home.
the child Is given some pennies and told
10 buy It's lunch You are an familiar
with the child who has a penny: he wants
candy, and the most pieces he can buy
Tor his money There are ever in the
vicinity Of schools stores and hockey
pokey men selling the cheapest and vilest
food stuffs- The enforcement OF the pure
food and drugs act is not yet perfect,
and II viii be some time before no pol
sonous candy is on the market. The idea
Of a hot lunch which costs but a few
cents, served In the school building II a
tremendous forward step. Many a head
ache from use OF the eyes would never
have appeared had the child had a full
and nourishing meal.
Needs Good, steady LIEht.
Too much cannot be said against the
usual light by which a child must study
at home. The haring gas Jet. the brilliant
mantle. and the electric lights. are all
severe in their effects upon the eyes. The
central chandelier IN a room Is neither
a thing OF beauty nor OF utility. The
best light IS a kerosene lamp or an Ar
gand gas burner. hung low enough 10
give sufficient Illumination, and placed to
the left and behind the reader the light
falling without shadow upon the page.
Next best is the electric globe the fila
ments concealed from the eye and the
rays diffused. A light suspended over
the desk or book Is prone to fall upon
h. W,rau II. ~.
hected into the eyes. The light behind
and to the side is reflected away from
the reader This matter OF position Of
the light Is ignored qultely commonly
both in the home and In the business Of
fee, and to II Is attributable much eye
strain
The dazzle to the eyes from the NOV
ing picture shows is responsible for a
very great deal Of eye trouble among
the children. They should not be allowed
20 attend these places too frequently. hut
may patronize the better ones OCCASION
ally.
Excessive reading IN bed or on tho
street cars Is sometimes hard upon the
eyes and strains them unduly.
The school desk and seat should be ad-
Unstable. that the chiId's feet may touch
the floor. and the back be held straight
With a desk too high. the elbows are
thrown out and the back bent sideways.
and tho book comes too close to the
eyes. Should the desk be too low, the
child must stoop. inducing congestion.
poor digestion, and round shoulders. An
uncomfortable desk may make the child
restless and nervous. and the result Is
ished. A highly polished desk may re-
fleet glsre into the eyes.
should Come from the side.
For a schoolroom. plenty Of daylight.
coming upon the desks from the left
side, that no shadow may be cast by
the hand and arm upon the writing pad.
with no direct sun and no dark corners,
Is ideal Winlow shades should be light
in color, that they may dinuse the sun
light and not exclude II. Even upon
cloudy DAYS II should be possible to read
fine type anywhere in the room Walls
and ceiling are preferably Hight green,
gray. or bun. You are all familiar with
the glare from white walls Woodwork
in the room should he light: for instance.
oak II is well that the nearest building
to the school windows should be twice
as far away as its height White stons
buildings and walls, II so placed that
they reflect the suns rays into the school
rooms. are productive OF irritation.
In reading. a child should sit forward.
the book held from twelve to twenty
inches from the eyes. Books should not
be nat upon the desk, but supported in
some manner that the distance to the
eyes from the top and from the bottom
OF the page may be the same. Type for
ehildren's books ought to be at least as
large as long primer. or ten-point- This
lie. a sample Of which show you, regn-
Iarly Is spaced seven and a half lines TO
the inch.
II has become the custom to send very
Young children to n kindergarten The
training. the discipline, and the oral In
struction which they here receive Is ex-
,eIlent, but would caution against too
much use Of the eyes at this tender age-
A childs playthings ought all TO be
large.
Let the child have only a minimum OF
fine work 20 do. such as sewing. &c.
Limit tile near use OF the eyes. This
near-sight OF the Germans Is attributed
lnrxcly to the close attention necessary
by the child to learn and read the dne
German script. am not in favor Of
putting children in school carly. The
little mental hea lway which child can
yair by early schooling is OF no I'M
nortance whatever 20 II later in life land
that is the purpose for which we educate
the child, II at the cost OF any Wsaknass
In body or In syeA