The Bemidji daily pioneer., 1915-05-21
Our Slogan::
"Bemidji $4,000
Population
in 1925"
X X X x x x * 4 x X < Xxx X X
X ARE OUR EYES !
DEGENERATING

z x 4 = x = x X x = x x r
This question is frequently asked
by people who observe closely and
who are dismayed by the remarkably
large number of people who wear
glasses today, as compared with a
generation or so ago. Our eyes are
not degenerating. The eyes of the
present generation are in no wise
poorer, weaker, or inferior, to those
of our ancestors, Notwithstanding the
fact far greater percentage wear
glasses than formerly.
The probabilities are that the eyes
of the human race are neither weaker
nor stronger today than were those
of our forefathers, unless it can be
proven that the whole physique Of
the race today is weaker or stronger.
AS is the whole physical body, SO are
the eyes, says the Journal of the
American Medical association.
But much more is required of our
eyes now than was ever required Of
our ancestors. The strenuous strug-
gle for existence today, the ever in
creasing complexity of our modern
civilized life, the multiplying knowl-
edge of the world in all lines Of hu-
man endeavor, knowledge that must
be mastered if we would rise and
achieve success, put far greater
strain on the eyes Of this generation
than on those that have gone before.
Our schools are. far more es5exacting
and severe, the business and scientific
world requires closer application and
more painstaking care than ever be-
fore Electricity has turned night
into day, and much more work is now
done by artificial illumination than
in the past. Sharp competition in ev-
cry line makes it necessary to have
the best vision obtainable.
Because of these exactingg demands
on our eyes latent imperfections, er-
rors Of refraction causing eyestrain,
are, brought out and made: manifest
by symptoms of discomfort and dis
tress, compelling us to seek the i'm
provement of vision and the comfort
afforded by properly fitting lenses.
Investigation has shown that
primitive races Of men have the same
Irregularities in shape and form Of
the eyes are found in civilized races.
The difference lies in the occupation,
out Of door life, and the limited use
made of the vision by the savage
races. ,-. -..
Examination of the eyes Of the In
dian, students at Carlisle and other
Indian schools shows that about 80
per cent of them have orefractive er-
rors, and need correcting lenses. This
is approximately as large percent
age as is exhibited by the white
races: -.@zl* Ill
Even the lower animals show the
same irregularities and imperfections
in. shape and, form of eye which gives
rise to the discomforts caused BY re-
fractive errors in man.
Some years, ago, an enterprising
and intreped oculist in New York
City, succeeded by means of the re-
tinoscope in measuring. the refrac-
tion. Of the. eyes of many of the wild
animals in Bronx Geological Park Of
that city. He found considerable
percentage of them with the same Inn
sperfections as exist in man. It is not
reported, however, that he fitted them
with glasses.
The percentage of people wearing
glasses. in a community, or group, or
society, is an index to the. educational
and scholastic attainments Of that
group or society. The more the eyes
are used for prolonged study and
close work, the more necessary it be-
comes to wear correcting lenses for
any existing retroactive errors. It
will frequently be found in any group
of professional and scientific men,
scholars, professors, teachers, law
yers, doctors, etc, that from 30 nto n