The Washington herald., 1916-07-15
How to Strengthen the Eyes.

There is a general tendency TO re-
gard the organs of sight as separate
and distinct entities, carrying on thelr
existence without "let or htndrance'
interference or assistance from the re-
mainder OF the body.
Nothing is farther from the truth
for as a matter of fact there are no
organs in the system that register
conditions so faithfully and that are
so fully under its sway as the eyes,
Indeed, these marvellous organs are
very apt to call attention to sys-
temic troubles which would other
wise pass unnoticed and, again, there
are a number of eye specialists VINO
claim almost every i'll to which nesh
is heir can be corrected by hitting
the eyes with proper lenses. Some
of the troubles for which this IS
claimed are so remote that one
gasps, but. then. nothing big is
ever conceived or achieved without
Imagination, and when chronically
obscure ills vanish like mist before the
morning sun after specially prescribed
glasses, one realizes how deeply in
voIved with the body economy the
eyes really are.
The emotions affect vision painfully.
Violent affections. great passions. long
continued grief and care cause dim
induced blindness 1t is we'll known
that violent anger lessons the keen
ness of vision to a marked degree.
Those who are in good health and not
forced to use their eyes for working pur-
poses rarely suffer from discomforts Of
these organs because ordinary vision is
a passive sensation requiring no effort
and really represents rest; II the sight Is
normal it Is not more exhausting than
breathing. whereas near vision demands
rnucular effort of the eye muscles and re-
qulres exertion. The question is often
asked, Can the muscles OF the eye De
strengthened by massage and ocular
gymnastics?" Physicians do not advo-
cate such procedures because of the ex-
treme delicacy and sensitiveness of the
eyes. Cold water acts as a tonic to other
tissues and cold slightly salt water afflu-
sions have the same effect on the eyes.
Just as other muscles in the body are
strengthened by judicious exercise, SO
must also those Of the eye respond II
these exercises are carried out with due
regard to the limitation of the eye mus
cles. A safe method to follow in eye
gymnastics Is to place a dark object upon
the wall on a straight line of vision.
Focus the eyes upon II, then raise them
slightly above it, then slightly below II;
gradually raise and lower them an inch
or two more short OF fatigue which limits
their present capacity. Increase until the
extreme extent to which the eyes can be
raised and lowered Is reached. Now place
a dark object about twelve inches to
right and the same distance to left of
center object; allow the eyes to travel
slowly from center to left and back and
repeat to right. Stop short Of fatigue.
As the strength OF the muscles increases
increase the distance between objects and
center until the extreme lateral capacity
of the eye muscles Is reached.
Follow these exercises by drawing a
large imaginary circle upon the wall the
center Of which is the object straight IN
front. the periphery the extreme limit Z
of previous exercises. Now rotate the
eyes around this circle. These gymnas-
tics must be done slowly and not cover
over ten minutes. 1t is questionable II
they are very helpful The eyeball it.
self is furnished with Q little muscle
called the ciliary, which controls the
crystalline lens. This muscle is an in
life we become aware Of some discom-
fort to adjust our sight to near objects
We can no longer read fine print or
thread a needle and thrust these beyond
our usual range of vision to see them
more clearly. This condition is known as
presbyopia or old sight" and its onset
and progress can be deferred some years
by Strengthening the ciliary muscle.
Rhythmic exercises have been devised by