Evening star., 1937-02-11

neip. JUST as almost every one may Work
out his own salvation from the common
"cold." or at least help himself vastly,
50 he may aid his eyes by thinking
about how to handle them. Healthy
youngsters never think about their eyes.
They don't have to! They Just look.
But then comes strain, or then comes
lessened vision-which preceded the
other must be left to the experts.
1t would seem that something of this
straining comes simply because one is
tempted to look at exactly the same
thing for too long time. Let the eyes
jump around from place to place, that
is natural, certainly, and is what people
really do when they are interested-and
young.
Bird watching in the home garden Is
interesting, and is going to prove so
very interesting to many persons who
have not yet discovered this sport that
we feel a few words in advance upon
how to handle the eyes is not amiss.
For watching such small creatures.
hopping around in the grass and on the
platforms of feeders, is something new on
the eyes which have never done it.
It Is equivalent, in the outdoors, TO
reading indoors.
A letter is small, word is small, even
q sentence is small How do you read,
one word at time or a whole sentence
at a time? Many great men have as
serted they read whole paragraphs or
even entire pages at glance. Some
persons who have investigated eyeSight
say that is not the way to read. They
declare that one should read word by
f,,cf uun hyy
Many persons who operate typewriter
know from their own experience that 1t
is not nearly the strain on their eyes
that reading is. Part of this relief
is due to the fact that even he who
is not an expert typiSt, nevertheless does
not have to gaze fixedly at the letters
on the machine. In fact, most of the
time is spent watching the words appear
on the paper, letter by letter. The one
finger expert" the operator who has had
no training in standard typewriter oper-
alton, nevertheless is able to do most OF
his typing without really looking at the
keys. Often such person will surprise
himself by his accuracy in tipping when
he suddenly shuts his eyes, so long as he
does not stop to think about what he
is doing The moment he does, he begins
to make mistakes.
4
A little conscious thinking about the
way to watch the birds is in order, at
first; after that it becomes fixed habit,
at least to some extent. There always
will be occasions when more or less
persistence must be put in looking
fixedly at some one bird, but most of
the time a great relief will come to the
eyes If they are moved around from
bird to bird, taking care to select Specl-
mems that are not too far apart.
This will be equivalent to reading. in
a sense, and may be done consciously,
Just as one is often very conscious that
he is reading book, until suddenly this
vanishes. and one forgets it completely,
lost in the story or whatever it is he
is reading.
In watching the birds there is the
whole garden to look at, the good Winter
scene which is interesting in its own
right.
One interested in the birds should
never permit himself to forget this.
One of the very best things the birds
which Winter with us do for us is to
remind us of our gardens during days
when otherwise we might forget them
entirely.
Watch the birds, but at the same
time see the garden which they are
adorning, and thus you will have double
value for your looking and save your
eyes at the same time.