The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-11-06
now 70 PREVENT BLINDNESS.

There are about 100000 blind people in
the United States II costs about u.s.
10000 year to support them. Prob
ably Is per cent of this blindness is due
to two causes. namely. sore eyes at
birth and neglected eyes during early
school life. The hrst cause can be re-
moved in the simplest manner. says the
Journal of the American Medical as
ISOLATION. All that IL necessary II for
the doctor or midwife to drop into the
eyes Of the newly born babe a few
drops of q per cent solution OF nj
trate OF silver. This will kill the germs
that produce the disease which almost
fills SO many blind asylums.
How easy this Is, and how much good
would be produced to the human race
if this procedure was always carried
OUT Those who are about to become
fathers and mothers should see to 1t
that this simple act p performed. It
costs nothing. is harmless, II prevents
blindness, 1t can easily be done: there
fore, it should Invariably be done!
The second cause Of blindness is the
neglect Of chtldren's eyes~during, early
school life. Thousands Of eyes could
be saved every year. t. eye diseases and
defects were detected and cared for in
early hfe Eye diseases are frequently
quite simple at the start. but rapidly
become worse IL neglected. The eyes
Of schoorchildren should be examined
every year, and diseases and defects
detected.
Local boards of health could do this
II they had sunicient money to hire
competent doctors or school nurses, but
boards Of health are proverbially hard
up," and usually have not enough avail
able money. Boards Of education could
employ doctors or nurses. but boards
OF education.are also often insufi1ciently
supplied with money.
School teachers can do this work
without additional expense. Instruc-
lions have been published in periodicals
and books many times, and the plan
is per- 3ctly easy and practical When
accomplished 1t will be as great bless
ing to the teachers as to the scholars;
for by TRANSFORMING stupid children to
bright children, their daily work will
be much easier
Teachers cannot and should not at
tempt to diagnose or treat eye diseases,
but by the accepted tests they can tell
that something is the matter. At the
same time that the eve tests are made,
the teacher should also examine the
ears, noses and Threats of her pupils.
Simple .ethods for such examinations
can be learned in few minutes by, any
teacher.
DIR. Cronin has found that 80 per cent
of school children wer. two years be-
hind their grades and that 80 per cent
throat diseases or defects. He exam
ined $50 detectives in one school and
found that 1877 of them had ear, nose
and throat defc- s, and that thirteen of
them had eye defects. These conditions
We're relieved and in six months Is per
cent of the children were re-examined.
They were all doing well and were rap
idly advancing in school Their charac-
ter had also remarkably changed for
the better. Such plan which has been
carried out in over 200
towns and cities during the past year
involves no expense to the taxpayers,
relieves the medical profession of the
suspicion of urging medical inspection
of schools for selfish reasons and yet
enables the teacher to separate the
normal pupil from the defective and to
recognize the defects in vision under
which some of her pupils labor.
-'UsH08nnssD