The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-05-10
/ INDS GLASSES
..|R'.E.A|||L|...|L|..'..F|HURT
VISION
Noted Eye Expert Explains
New Method Of Treatment
For. School Children.

By DR.. WILLIAM III. BATES.
written for lCosrnopoIItan News service.
Il NEW YORK, May 1O.z Glasses
are positively harmful to the eyes.
Experiments and clinical observa.
fions which / have made demon
|strate the lens is not a. fAetQr in
|. the accommodate OF the eye and
that al errors off;refractiGfIs are
functional and therefore durable.
One outstanding fact from my
experience in treating all cases Of
Imp sight requiring glasses
Under the old system without heir
use is this: ss n. !. 1921 y
sc Just leaving the glasses off ben;
efits the patient and he improves
from, doing this one thing alone.
~ That is why my first require
ment is that the patient must dis
card glasses entirely, and not use
them even in emergencies.
The cure and prevention OF iI11-
perfect sight in school children IS
very simple.
Tests for School Room. !,
In every. class room. a Snellen
test cardthe regular opticians
test card containing rows of let
tiers from, the largest to- the small
est type-is hung on the wall. Each
day the children should read the
card, first with one eye, then with
the other, the Schild covering one
eye alternately with the palm Of
the hand SO as not to touch the
eyelid. The time required for read
ing the card as well as they are
able lis not more than one min
ute.
II the child has imperfect eyes,
it is encouraged to. read the card
for a few minutes, and as often
during the day as convenient.
This simple method always inn
proves the sight Of children under
twelve who never wore glasses. 4
have never seen an exception. Chill
dren with imperfect sight recover in
a few weeks or months. The cure,
however, OF children. who have
worn glasses. requires assistance
as in the case Of adults who wore
glasses.
The normal eye when 1t has nor
NAL sight is always at rest. When
the eye is perfectly at rest, there
Is perfect sight.
Concave, convex or any other
glasses cause the eyeballs to lose
their true balance.
Shifting the eye is prerequi.
site for normal vision. The normal
eye shifts constantly, but 1t Is done
so easily, rapidly and readily most
people do not notice it. 1t avoids
staring and incessant strain.
An army officer in the aviation
corps complained that while plotting
a plane his vision often failed tenn
porarily. I told him to take q small
letter, about quarter Of an inch
in diameter, and paste it in front
OF the machine where he. could see
it at all times.
Reply to His Critics.
Knowing what the letter was, it
was very easy for him to see the
letter perfectly. When he did, he
saw everything perfectly, because
one cannot remember, imagine or
see anything perfectly without re-
membering, imagining or seeing
everything else perfectly.
A great many teachers condemn
my methods for children because
they say children learn the letters
by heart and recite them without
actually seeing them. With a spe-
cial instrument I have observed
many thousands of children reading
the test card with apparently per
feet sight, the same card they had
committed to memory, and in all
cases never found anything wrong
with their eyes.
Every condition of imperfect sight,
including astigmatis crOss-eyes,
near-sightedness, far-sightedness, ETC.,
can be cured by my method without
the aid of glasses. -