New-York tribune., 1918-02-03
Medicines
16and @
)n99erY
DR.. William H. Bates Has Per.
fected Method of Eye Treat
ment Which May Mean
Normal Vision for All

ing defects in the modern eye, is reported
by Mary Dudderidge, writing for "The
Scientific American" This investigation
is being made by DR.. William H. Bates, of
New York, discoverer of adrenalin (well
known as an astringent), who has "act-
ually been curing errors Of refraction
without glasses for thirty years, and who,
as the result Of a remarkable series Of
experiments, has been able to present evi-
dence which appears to invalidate most Of
the theories on which the present practice
of ophthalmology is based"
The new view of things, briefly stated,
is that defects in vision occur because of
abnormal action Of the exterior muscles of
the eyeball rather than because of the
crystalline lens. The old theory and the
new are thus contrasted:
! I'VE were all taught at school that the nc
commodatlon OF the eye depends upon an al
teratlon IN the curvature Of the crystalline
lens Now defects of vision have been found
to be associated with deviations from the
normal IN the shape of the eyebail, which
I ought to be a perfect sphere; and such de-
formations are always supposed to be perma-
nent. In sight the sphere is elonoat.d
! SO that 1t can be focused accurately only on
near OBJECTS. Rays of light coming from a
Instance are focused in front of the retina
instead of upon it. In far sight the eyeball
IS too short, and the light rays are focused
oen1ho the retlna. In astigmatism the eve
pail becomes lopsided, the deviation from the
normal curvature not having been uniform.
In an effort to overcome these conditions tho
crystalline lens is supposed to alter its cur-
Vature through the agency of what is known
as the ciliary muscle.
"Under the influence of this -tbeor,, N
Bates at first diagnosed such cases Of myo
pla and other refractive errors as he suc-
ceeoed IN curing as being merely functional.
without any permanent change OF shane in the
eyeball HIS success in treating the moro
severe forms of refractive error however
led him to doubt the existence of an incura
bic class, and five years ago he undertook tbe
series Of experiments above alluded TO for
the purpose of testing the accepted theories.
BY the manipulation OF the exterior muscles
OF the eyeball, the function OF which has long
neen matter OF dispute, he was able to make
the eyes of fishes rabbits and other animals
near-slghted, far-sighted or astgmatic at
Will He therefore concluded that il was bv
the abnormal action Of these muscles. rather
than through the agency of the crystalline
lens, that similar conditions were produced
IN the human eye, a view which was con-
hrmed by observations on the human eve it.
. self He also observed accommodation TAX
ing place in eyes from which the crystalline
lens had been removed.
I'm series of experiments not vet con-
Guided, DR.. Bates is attacking the problem
from new angle. Since light reflected from
a curved surface must change its focus if
there is any change in the curvature of that
surface, he is photographing the fament Of
aJ trIn irrl+
{ faces of the eyebal As no photographer
. could be found to do this work he had to
learn photography himself for the purpose,
, and 1t was two years before he was able to
get any satisfactory pictures. The testimony
of these photographs is that the whole eye
ball changes its shape during accommodation
and that the crystalline lens does not"
I, THE revolutionary idea which these
- observations impressed upon DR..
Bates was, then, that determinations of the
eyeball upon which errors of refraction
depend are due to an abnormal strain
!. upon the eXtrinsc muscles of the orb Of
VISION, and that instead of being perma-
rent they last only so long as the strain
continues. "When the eyes strain to see
4 distant things the oblique muscles con-
tract, and by elongating the eyeball
produce the myopic refraction When
they strain to see near things the recti
! muscles contract, and by flattening the
eyebal produce the hypermetropic re-
: fraction"
, The problem of curing errors of re.
traction, the author continues, is there
fore to induce the eyes to take it easy
= and look at things without effort:
This is accomplished by system Of eve
!, education so simple that patients, when they
Y are cured, proceed at to cure their rela-
tives and friends Teachers have also used
1t successfully to prevent and cure myopia
in their pupils. More than one thousand
children with defective sight have reganed
normal vision by this means. In one class
in which there had been twenty-seven eve
detectives, twenty-five were reported cured
while one truant and one incorrigible had
become good students, because they were
now able to study without pain
"The fundamental principle Of this new
: system of eye training IS what DR.. Bates
d calls central fxation.
i Central fixation is attained by two
4 methods, practice and rest, the latter com.
j.. ing flrst 10 rest the eyes the patient is told
Z to look at something black and then cove,
II hls eyes IN such way 10 exclude the
= light and avoid pressure on the eyeballs. II
q Re remembers the black perfectly he will see
black. Otherwise he may see all the colors
{ OF the rainbow. but usually sees gray When
one does succeed in seeing black the effec,
e IS very surprising. The vision is noticeably
improved, though it may be only for mo-
ment, and letters on the test card that one
e was unable to see before stand out clearly
The explanation offered for this phenomenon