The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-12-24
Frederick | askln's Letter
tspeah Coszespoaanss Of xAa AzrusJ
Recreation for Your Eyes.

$1,000 AhS ,pcEkOdS "a
day over long period. opa ~ -
VINO had always suffered iron
teeuVe vision anu who haS
glasses since he was a bow 49,, w
ole entire day to the rels~..'
process, sitting quietly in . - -.
ened room ana languidly sum- :
ing a long procession of blse- y
Jects to mind. At the END - y
day he was amazed to find y :,
could see perfectly yithont i
hofn-f1mmed spectacles.
"0phthalmologists tell rs :,
the visual organ of man was -
intended for the uses to which !.
now put Dr.. bates explains
his book. Long before -.
were any schools or printing p,a..
es, electric lights or moyiBs - -
lures, it was complete. In ~ ~,
days 1t served the need Of the T.
man animal perfectly. Man wss
hunter, a herdsman, a farme,s
lighter. He needed. we ara -
mainly distant vision. and SIN inv
the eye at rest is adjusted for 4.
tant vision, sight is supposes :.
have been ordinarily as PASSIVE ~
the perception of sound, reoui,is-
no muscular action Whatever
Civilization Injuries Ewes
While primitive man appears Ia
have suffered but little from A..
fects of vision, it is estimated tbs,
OF persons over p living ma,
ciV1ilzed conditions, nine out -
every 10 have imperfect sight And
as the age increases the prODortios
1ncreas IS until at 40 it is almo.,
impossible to ind a person frss
from visual defects. Statistics 4.
the army show this concIusiyelvs
DR.. Bates examines on an aver.
age of $4,000 pairs OF eyes a year Al
The New York Eye and Ear In6rn.
AIRY and other institutions. In IN
work" he says, Il noticed mann
Eases in which errors of refractiop
either recovered spontaneously. or
changed their form, and | was nm.
able either to ignore them or 10
satisfy myself Swith the ORTHODOXY
In course of time (
discovered that myopia and hyper
nethopla, like astigmatism. could
De produced at will; that myopia
vas not, as We have long believed
associated with the use OF the ewes
It the near point, but with a strain
o see distant objects, strain al the
lear-poiHt being associated with
lypermetropia; that no error Of
erraet1on was ever a constant con
.iuon, and that the lower degree OF
efractiYe error were curablc
While higher degrees could be i'm
Iroved.
Finally, after a series Of OBJ
erVations upon the eyes Of Human
elngS and animals, | convinced
9th myself and others thai the
ems is not factor in accOmmOda-
ion, and that the adjustment neees-
airy for vision at different dis
ances is effected in the eye, pre-
isely as it is in the camera, by
hange in the length of the organ.
ais alteration being brought about
the action of the muscles on
lie outside of the globe"
Heretofore, the theory has been
lat the shape of the eyebau con
oiled the sight. A normal eye
as supposed to remain normal
hereas it is constantly being dem
nstrated that normal vision is
ften impaired.
In the 30 years / have devoted
the study OF Fefraction.7 DF.
ates declares, y have found few
eople who could maintain perfect
ght for more than a few minutes
a time even in the most favor
Bile conditions. Similarly. / have
Dund no eyes with continuous or
errors of refraction, all
arsons with errors of refraction
aFing at frequent intervals dur
g the day and night moments Of
primal vision, when their myopia,
or astigmatism
holly disappears. The form Of
le error also changes, myopla
zen changing into hypermetropia,
Id one form of astigmatism inc
lother."
This new Opthalmic theory DOW
rms the basis OF the work of d
Imber of prominent eye special
is, and at least one New York
,spital has a gymnasium for le
-es. Instead of being handed
in the form Of glasses, the
Ltients of this hospital are given
course in eye muscle development
Id relaxation, just as Indian
ubs and dumbbeils are given 10
opIe in need of greater chest e1-
nsi0u.