Compliments of the Author. 
I* 
Modern Kducatioq 
an Ivvil Influence 
UPON THE 
of our Cliilcireri ? 
BY A. W. CALIfOUN, M.D., 
PROCESSOR OF DISEASES OF THE EYE AND EAR IN THE ATLANTA MEDICAL 
COLLEGE. 
Reprint from the Atlanta Medical and Surgical Journal. 
ATLANTA, GEORGI-Xl / 
H. H. Dickson, Book and Job Printer, 32 Broad Street. 
1878. IS MODERN EDUCATION EXERTINGIfiH&VIL 
INFLUENCE UPON THE EYE-SIGHT OF 
YOUR CHILDREN ? 
Read before the Georgia Teachers Association and the Atlanta Acad- 
emy of Medicine. 
There have always been, and even in our own day and 
time there still exist, those who are in doubt as to which 
is the most important, the most indispensable of all our 
organs of sense. But especially often is the question asked, 
“ Which is the greatest deprivation, the loss of sight or 
the loss of hearing ?” 
How almost uni versal is it that the blind appear bright, 
happy and cheerfully resigned to the great loss they have 
sustained, while the deaf are not unfrequently dissatisfied, 
unhappy and mistrustful. It has been my lot to have 
had much intercourse with these two classes of individu- 
als, as well in private life as in the well-filled and well- 
managed institutions for their benefit throughout various 
portions of the world; and this remakable contrast between 
them is the more apparent, the more thorough and the 
more intimate my acquaintance grows. The doubt, indeed, 
is untenable, for in the eye we have that organ which 2 
Influence of School-life on Eye-sight. 
brings us in the most immediate relation and connection 
with the outer world, with mankind, with the brute crea- 
tion, wdth all nature; for she best expresses herself to us 
through her visibleness. This alone suffices for us to com- 
prehend. Nature offers much less for the hearing, for 
never can we learn to conceive of objects as they really 
are, from the noises which may emanate from them and 
perceptibly strike our ear. On the contrary, imagination 
readily brings to mind the soft notes of the musical instru- 
ment that we see. We can often understand and compre- 
hend men without hearing them, from the movements of 
the body and from their countenances. We can read from 
their lips what they speak when not a single tone is au- 
dible. 
That sight is a direct aid and support to each of the 
other organs of sense, can be readily tested and proven by 
each and every one. The finest and most delicate viands 
never taste so well as when we see them. The enjoyment 
of the most fragrant flower is considerably heightened by 
the sight of it. A sensation, however pleasant to the touch, 
is infinitely increased when we see the cause that calls it 
forth. 
It is in the school-room that the largest and most im- 
portant portion of the child’s life is spent, and while the 
whole energy is bent upon the proper development of the 
brain, it is not seldom that too little attention is given to 
the true maxim that “only in a healthy body can a 
healthy mind live.” During these same years must the 
physical development progress, but how often can we trace 
back to those school days the ground-work of bodily ail- 
ments, which prove to be stubborn barriers to all future 
advancement. 
Now, as the eye must play the role of a mediator be- 
tween the subjects to be learned and the working brain, it 
is easy to understand that in the same proportion that 
work is demanded of the brain, in like degree does a tax 
fall upon the eye, and so it happens also that the eye, 
which, as the general body, is perfecting itself during these 
very years of school life, undergoes not unfrequently pow- 
erful changes, which we can speak of only as diseased con- Influence of School-life on Eye-sight. 
3 
ditions, not only not admitting of cure, but here and there 
leading to the destruction of the organ of sight. 
After we have shown that the eye suffers such powerful 
and unwholesome changes during the years spent in the 
school-room, then it is our purpose to demonstrate that 
certain influences during these years originate diseases of 
the eye, and finally to enumerate the means, with the help 
•of which we hope to he able to at least limit the frequency 
and degree of intensity of these diseases. 
We always judge of an eye according to its length, and 
in eyes of different length we have different vision. In 
this particular we recognize three different conditions, 
known as conditions of refraction. These are: 
1. Emmetropia or normal sightedness. 
2. Myopia or near sightedness. 
3. Hypermetropia or over-sightedness. 
That these conditions may be clearly understood, and 
for a thorough comprehension of the dangers dependent 
upon a certain one (2d) of them, it is perhaps well that I 
should say a few words descriptive of them. 
The hypermetropic or over-sighted eye is too short a 
ball, and is a congenital defect. 
The myopic or near-sighted eye is too long a ball, and 
in every degree, from the slightest to the greatest, is not 
only a real defect, but is also an absolute disease. In the in- 
terior of every eye.there is a circular muscle (the ciliary) 
known as the muscle of accommodation, by whose action 
Ave are enabled to accommodate our visions for all distances, 
for near, distant and all intermediate points. 
In the emmetropic or normal-sighted eye, the action of 
this muscle produces no peculiar, no unpleasant sensa- 
tions, for it acts within normal limits. But in the over- 
sighted or hypermetropic eye, both for seeing distinctly in 
the distance and very specially for seeing near objects, this 
little muscle must exercise excessive force, and indeed the 
excess of force is the greater, the more over-sighted the 
eye or the shorter the ball. 
A muscle that is brought into constant unnatural ac- 
tivity gradually passes over into a convulsive, spasmodic 
•condition, or is so much fatigued that it is no longer able 4 
Influence of School-life on Eyesight. 
to undergo work. Both of these conditions take place in 
the human eye. The characteristic symptoms of this con- 
dition are as follows: Such persons (adults as avcII as chil- 
dren) are able to execute the very finest work for a greater 
or less time, perhaps without trouble, then gradually, 
may be suddenly, the work becomes indistinct, obscured, 
and tilings seem to run into each other. At times it ap- 
pears as if a cloud were floating immediately in front of 
the eye, and one is no longer able to continue the work, 
and as a consequence a few moments’ rest follows, the eyes 
are rubbed, and after a pause of a short interval the work 
is again resumed, but mostly only for a short time, for the 
same symptoms return. Particularly is this the case 
towards evening, after an entire day’s toil, or towards the 
end of the week, after a whole week’s constant use of the 
eyes, while on Monday, and especially Monday morning, 
in consequence of resting the eye, and therefore resting 
the muscle of accommodation on the inside of the eye dur- 
ing Sunday, the vision is at its very best. In some in- 
stances, this wearied condition of the muscle appears so 
suddenly that the persons affected think themselves 
blinded, and when they seek assistance and are told that 
the use of proper glasses will forever remove the trouble, 
they are astonished as well as rejoiced. 
Unfortunately, it is not seldom the case that a great 
wrong is done children affected with over-sightedness; par- 
ents and teachers attributing the difficulty with which 
they progress in their studies to a “stubborn will” or 
“idleness” manifesting itself in their complaints of tired 
eyes, inability to go on with study, headaches, and so on, 
when in truth it was due to the over-taxed muscle of ac- 
commodation. I have had frequent occasion to call to 
these facts the attention of parents and teachers whose 
children or pupils may have been sufferers from over- 
sightedness. 
But it is to that condition of refraction known as myo- 
pia or near-sightedness I wish to direct attention specially, 
for while the over-sighted eye is an eye of defective growth 
without disease, the near-sighted ball is not only defective 
in growth, for it is too long, but is in the real sense of the Influence of School-life on Eyesight. 
5 
term a diseased eye. The celebrated Donders, in his work 
-on refraction, takes this as his motto: “I speak it without 
hesitation, that a near-sighted eye is a diseased eye.” Let 
every one, then, seek diligently not to become near-sighted. 
As we have seen, the longer the eye the greater the near- 
sightedness, and the highest degree of it corresponds to 
the longest eye. 
Very rarely before the fifth or sixth year of life does 
near-sightedness make its appearance—about which time 
children usually begin their attendance upon school—but 
from this time on, under certain unfavorable circum- 
stances, the eve gradually elongates, reaching and remain- 
ing perhaps at a certain point of elongation, a slight or 
high degree, or constantly increases through all the years 
•of school life, even to the twentieth or twenty-fifth year, 
and indeed in some instances continues slowly to lengthen 
through almost the whole life. But it is not simply the 
elongation of the ball that is so much to be feared, but 
•consequent changes which have an important bearing 
upon the acuity of vision, upon the movements and upon 
the very existence of the eye. 
If a hundred men with perfectly good eyes are able to 
recognize or read at a certain distance, say twenty feet, one 
and the same letter or number of letters, it is reasonable 
to conclude that any other person with equally good eyes 
could recognize and read the same letter or letters at the 
same distance. But if one is incapable of doing this, even 
with the defect of refraction (if such exists) corrected by 
proper glasses, then this one has less acuity of vision than 
the one hundred who were able to do so. This diminution 
•of vision is a frequent and common circumstance with 
near-sighted individuals, and depends upon the diseased 
•changes taking place on the interior of the eye, brought 
.about by the abnormal lengthening of the ball. 
The movements of the ball are controlled by six mus- 
cles, and over their action near-sightedness exercises a very 
great influence, because of the ball being so long. There 
exists a peculiar but certain connection between near- 
sightedness and the contraction of one of these muscles 
■(the outer), causing the eye to turn outwards, constituting 6 
Influence of School-life on Eyesight. 
what in common parlance is known as external squint or 
cross eyes. A corresponding connection exists also be- 
tween over-sightedness and internal squint, so that, indeed, in 
the majority of instances we are able to say when we see 
a person squinting outwards that he is near-sighted, and 
when imvards that he is over-sighted. There are, of course, 
exceptions to this rule. In every near-sighted individ- 
ual the very existence of the eye is in danger, but espe- 
cially so in those cases of progressive myopia, attaining 
finally a high degree. Such an eye can any moment be- 
come suddenly blinded through detachment of the retina, 
the lining nervous membrane on the interior of the eye, 
resulting always in a very material reduction of sight, and 
in the majority of cases in irretrievable loss of vision. 
Doubtless the question has already been asked, cannot 
this too short eye be made longer, and this too long eye be 
made shorter? No, I answer; for these changes in the eye 
must remain forever unchanged, but we can correct the 
defect in the over-sighted eye, in so far as the unpleasant 
and painful symptoms from the use of such an eye are 
concerned, and make the vision as comfortable as in the 
normal-sighted person. And we can make the near-sighted 
see not only near but distant objects. It would be out 
of place here to go into a detailed description of the 
means at our command for such correction. Suffice it to> 
say, it is done in the first instance (the over-sighted eye) 
by the use of convex, in the second (the near-sighted eye) 
by the use of concave glasses. The question naturally 
propounds itself, are we able to prevent this diseased 
lengthening of the eyeball, this near-sightedness, or after 
it has begun, are we in condition to at least prevent its in- 
crease? This is a question full of the most vital impor- 
tance, and it is the question that has led to the investiga- 
tion of the eyes of a very large number of school children,, 
after it had once become positively known that near-sight- 
edness developed itself particularly, indeed almost exclusively, 
and attained its very highest degrees during the years of 
school life. So far as I can gather, there are the records of 
the examinations of the eyes of about 45,000 (forty-five 
thousand) school children, of all ages and of all grades,. Influence of School-life on Eyc-sight. 
7 
representing both white and colored races, and both 
country and city schools. Some of these investigations 
would lead us to conclude that the percentage of nor- 
mal-sighted, others that the percentage of over-sighted 
children, prevailed in the largest degree, but all, without a 
single exception, prove beyond a doubt that ?imr-sighted- 
ness, beginning perhaps at nothing in the lowest classes 
and first years of school life, steadily increases from class 
to class in the school until in the highest grades or in the 
last years of school attendance, it has actually developed 
itself in as many as sixty or seventy per cent, of all the 
pupils. Amongst this large number we have children 
whose ages range all along from five to twenty years and 
upwards, all similarly occupied, and during a time in 
which the eye undergoes its most important changes— 
changes which will influence more or less the regulation 
of their entire lives. 
In the schoolroom we can follow the eye from its begin- 
ning on—from its primitive condition, as it were—where 
as yet, it has been exposed to no injurious influences, and 
can follow' it through a series of years to an age in which 
we can mark the boundary, beyond which we can say, the 
further development of it under certain conditions will be 
for good, under other conditions, for evil. 
Now we have found that in the very early years of 
life, no eye is near-sighted, and even in the lowest classes at 
school no near-sightedness exists, or if at all, only in the 
slightest degree, and also that in the highest and last 
school classes, containing the oldest pupils, as much 
as seventy or even a larger per cent, of the scholars 
are near-sighted. Knowing all this, the question presses 
itself upon us: how is it possible for an eye in a space 
of time from twelve to fifteen years, to undergo such a 
transformation ? If nature prescribes or dictates these 
changes in the human eye, why is it then that all 
are not near-sighted? Or do unfavorable circumstances or 
conditions lend their assistance in bringing about this dis- 
eased lengthening of the eyeball? Or have the sufferers 
inherited the disease from their parents or ancestors, and 
if so, why is it that these children are not near-sighted 
from birth ? 8 
Influence of School-life on Eye-sight. 
Some very interesting observations have been made 
during these investigations, and prominent among them 
are: • 
1. That over-sightedness (a too short ball) is originally 
the normal condition of the eve, and to reach the near- 
sighted state (a too long ball) the eye must pass through 
the normal-sighted condition (a normal sized ball). 
2. That with the increase in years, and with the rise 
in classes, the number of near-sighted children more or 
less rapidly increases. 
3. That near-sightedness in city schools is much more 
frequent than in schools in the rural districts, due to the 
better surroundings in the country, less strain and more 
rest for the eye. 
4. That colored school children are remarkably free 
from near-sightedness, the per centage being exceedingly 
small. In my own examinations of this class of students, 
I have seen very few who were near-sighted. 
5. That children frequently have the trouble, whose 
parents or grandparents had the same, and that the acuity 
of vision is more frequently defective amongst the near- 
sighted than amongst any others. 
I have before me the results of the examinations of the 
eyes of nearly 2,200 school children in and around Bern, 
the capital of Switzerland, and I take these tables because 
they are a fair type of all the others. These show that 
the majority of children begin school life with emmetro- 
pia or normal-conditioned eyes, but that the number of 
normal-sighted children invariably and constantly dimin- 
ishes as they rise from grade to grade. They show, also, 
on the other hand, that myopic or near-sighted eyes scarcely 
exist at all, or in very small numbers, in the youngest chil- 
dren or in the lowest classes, but as they grow older and 
go higher and higher in studies requiring closer applica- 
tion of their eyes, just as invariably and just as constantly 
does near-sightedness increase, as normal-sightedness di- 
minishes under the opposite condition of things. In sim- 
ilar proportion also as near-sightedness increases does over- 
sightedness diminish, showing beyond the shadow of a 
doubt that both normal-sighted and over-sighted eyes, Influence of School-life on Eye-sight. 
9 
(with one of which almost all children are horn,) under the 
influence of school life and other unhealthy surroundings, 
gradually lose their healthy condition, until finally in the 
last school years, and in the highest grades or classes, near- 
sightedness, a truly diseased condition of the eye, becomes 
the condition of refraction in as many as seventy per cent 
of those now just in the very beginning of manhood and 
womanhood. This is truly a sad picture and a sad com- 
mentary upon the boasted civilization of the latter half of 
the nineteenth century, but it is true to the very letter, 
and needs but a most superficial study of the subject to 
convince him who doubts most. But not only among 
school children do we find near-sightedness developing 
itself, but also amongst teachers, book-keepers, engravers, 
watch-makers, newspaper men, and indeed amongst all 
those who have occasion to look at fine objects for a long 
time, keeping the muscle of accommodation in a contin- 
ued strain for a greater or less period. In all adults, how- 
ever, the disease develops itself with much less frequency 
and with more difficulty than in children, because the tis- 
sues forming the eyeballs in the grown person have re- 
ceived their growth, become hardened, and are much less 
influenced by excessive use than those of a child. 
Is it then a great misfortune to become near-sighted? 
Since a near-sighted eye is a diseased eye, this question 
bears its own answer upon its face. But what is the cause 
of near-sightedness, and since we cannot cure the disease— 
cannot make this too long ball short again—are we not 
able to prevent others falling into the same unfortunate 
condition? The two principal causes are heredity and oc- 
cupation. Others may exist, but they are unimportant in 
comparison with these two. That over-sightedness is often 
hereditary is a matter of every day observation; several 
members of the same family not only having the defect, 
but oftentimes having it in exactly the same degree that 
existed in the eyes of their parents or grandparents. Of 
necessity, must hypermetropia or over-sightedness be at 
least congenital, but not so with myopia or near-sighted- 
ness, for it can be either hereditary or acquired. The ten- 
dency to the trouble may exist from birth, but the disease 10 
Influence of School-life on Eye-siyhL 
itself may never crop out unless conditions favorable to it 
present themselves. On the contrary also, very many 
children acquire near-sightedness in whom there is no- 
natural tendency to the disease, whose parents or grand- 
parents were entirely free from it. It has been mentioned 
that in the children in country schools near-sightedness- 
was, comparatively speaking, scarcely to he found. These 
pupils are the children of parents who themselves perhaps 
attended school but little during the early years of their 
lives, and had strained their eyes very little on near ob- 
jects, hence the absence of an hereditary tendency to the 
disease in their children. The parents and grandparents 
of city school children have themselves, perhaps for gene- 
rations back, attended city schools, and have year after year 
engaged in those avocations in the city which are a constant 
strain to the muscles (particularly the ciliary) of the eyer 
leading ultimately to a lengthening of the ball, a tendency 
to which is transmitted from generation to generation. 
Out of nearly five hundred (500) negro school children ex- 
amined in New York by Dr. Callan, only two and a half 
per cent, were found near-sighed, and out of thousands of 
the natives of British India, examined by British surgeons, 
not a single one was found to be near-sighted. Amongst 
a large number of negroes examined by myself from time 
to time, only two cases of near-sightedness have as yet 
come under my observation. These Avere in groAvn negro- 
men, Avrho for eight or ten years had applied themselves 
unremittingly to their studies and had acquired a very ex- 
traordinary amount of intelligence, but at the cost of a 
defect of their eyes, \\rhich must forever leave them in a 
diseased state. The negroes then, are as yet but little sub- 
ject to near-sightedness, because their forefathers never 
had occasion to use their eyes to an injurious extent, and 
hence, as yet also, only the tendency to good eyesight have 
they inherited from them. 
Noav, while heredity gives rise to the tendency to near- 
sightedness, and certain subsequent avocations cause its 
full development in a large number of instances, still there 
is no doubt \\Thatever that the avocations of individuals 
during school years, as well as later, is often the sole cause Influence of School-life on Eyesight. 
11 
of the disease, without the existence of the slightest hered- 
itary tendency. In the schoolroom there are two kinds of 
influences that work injuriously upon the eyesight. Under 
the first are classed all those things which compel the eye 
to strain itself in order to see distinctly small letters or ob- 
jects. Under the second, all those which cause a congestion 
of or rush of blood to the head and eye. To the first belong 
bad ventilation and improper light, too small and imper- 
fect type, pale ink, many successive hours at the same 
kind of work, as in reading, writing, sewing, etc., without 
change or rest of the eye, all sorts of toil causing the use 
of the eye until late in the night and sometimes with very 
defective light. To the scond belong not only those things 
just enumerated, but also the construction and arrange- 
ment of school desks and benches, which in many schools 
make it next to impossible for pupils to hold their bodies 
in proper position for any length of time. 
For demonstrating the role that bad air, bad light, etc., 
play in the schoolroom, I extract some pertinent remarks 
from a pajoer published by Dr. Loring, of New York. He 
says: 
I am therefore of the opinion that bad air alone, acting 
as the primal cause, may set in train a series of morbid 
processes, which may, and often do effect, not only the work- 
ing capacity and integrity of the organ, but which may 
lead even to its total destruction. Thus simple irritation 
of the mucous membrane of the eye may, and often does,, 
pass into actual inflammation, which, increasing in vio- 
lence, may proceed from part to part till the entire organ 
is involved, and thus the sight become impaired or totally 
lost. 
Ought not the light to fall, not full in the face of the 
child, but first on the book, or work, and be reflected into 
the eye ? 
Before answering this question precisely as it now 
stands, I should like to premise it by making the general 
assertion that not only is the direction in which the light 
comes important, but also its quantity and quality. Re- 
duction in illumination is, as a rule, precisely equivalent 
to a reduction in the size of the object. Therefore, the 12 
Influence of School-life on Eyesight. 
less the light, the nearer an object has to bo brought to 
the eye, arid the greater the strain in the act of vision. 
It is impossible to fix with any scientific exactness just 
the size that a window should he to give sufficient light 
for visual purposes, since this must vary with the expos- 
ure and surroundings of the room; but it has been reck- 
oned in Germany that for a class-room containing twenty 
persons, there should be at least 4,000 to 6,000 square inches 
-of glass, which would give to each scholar from 200 to 800 
square inches, or what would be represented by a pane of 
glass from 14 to 17 inches square. Such a room as this 
would be sufficiently lighted in any part. A room 20 
feet square should not contain less than 70 to 80 square 
feet of glass, and it may he laid down as a rule that too 
much light cannot be obtained in a room, as all excess of 
glare can be guarded against by artificial shades if prop- 
erly applied. 
More light enters the room from the same amount of 
glass from the south than from the north, and a southern, 
southeastern or southwestern exposure is better than a 
northern, northeastern, or northwestern, especially for class- 
rooms, and this, too, simply in regard to the amount of 
light and independent of the purifying influences of direct 
sunlight. 
That a north room is better for the purposes of the 
-artist is due to other causes and does not affect the general 
rule. 
The light should not come from directly in front, and 
•especially is this the rule when artificial light is used. For 
when the light conies from directly in front of the person, 
the pupil of the eye becomes unduly contracted, which is 
equivalent to reducing the quantity of light, since less 
light enters the eye from the object viewed, while the eye 
is exposed to too much light reflected from the surrounding 
objects, and from the direct rays from the source of illu- 
mination. 
Neither should the light come from directly behind, as 
the object then lies in the shadow of the body. Nor yet 
from the right side, because in writing the shadow of the 
hand falls across the page, and a moving shadow over a Influence of School-life on Eye-sight. 
13 
lighted surface not only reduces the quantity of light and 
leads to a stooping position, but it is also more annoying 
to the eye than a uniform reduction in the illumination 
of even a greater degree. 
The best direction for the light to come is from the left- 
hand side, and from rather above than below the level of' 
the head. Windows, therefore, should not be run down too 
near to the floor, as they often do in class-rooms and offices. 
I cannot agree with the opinion often expressed, that 
the best direction for the light to come from is from directly 
above. 
I cannot refrain from adding, in this connection, the 
conclusion founded on Dr. Cohn’s elaborate investigations 
in regard to the near-sightedness among school children 
in Germany. He thus formulates it: “The narrower 
the street in which the school-house was built, the higher 
the opposite buildings, and the lower the story occupied by 
the class, the greater the number of near-sighted scholars.” 
I should, then, from these considerations, say that the- 
angle at which the light strikes the eye is important, and 
that it ought not to fall in the face of the child, but first 
on the book or work, and be reflected into the eye. 
Does the size and quality of the type cause disease of 
the eye? 
First, in regard to size of type. The smaller an object 
is, the nearer it has to he brought to the eye to be perceived. 
It has been accepted by occulists that type embraced 
by an angle equal to 5' (five minutes) is the smallest printed 
matter which can be recognized by the average normal 
eye. According to this formula, the smallest print which 
a normal eye can readily recognize at a distance of one 
foot is about of an inch, at eighteen inches (the aver- 
age distance at which the book is held by an adult,) the 
smallest recognizable type would be about of an inch. 
The normal eye should never be subjected for any length' 
of time to a type smaller than twice this size, that is, Ju 
(TV) of an inch, and it would be better, after middle life, 
to employ a type even a little larger than this. The fact, 
however, that spectacles are now so commonly used, re- 
moves, in a great degree, by restoring to the eye its former 14 
Influence of School-life on Eye-sight. 
focalizing powefr, the necessity of a larger type with ad- 
vancing years. Young children should never hold the 
book nearer to the eye than ten inches, and adults never 
farther from the eye than eighteen inches. As soon as 
perfectly distinct vision at this distance cannot he obtain- 
ed, and if obtained cannot he easily maintained, recourse 
should be had to spectacles. 
The finer, then, the type, the closer the hook has to be 
brought to the eye, and the greater the tension or demand 
on the focalizing power, and the muscles which are used 
in bringing both eyes to bear at the same time upon the 
object viewed. These two acts make what is called the act 
of accommodation of the eye, and tension of the accom- 
modation, that is, long continued use of the eye upon 
objects brought close to it, is considered by all authorities 
one of the most, if not the most, fertile causes of progressive 
near-sightedness. 
This condition may be accompanied by morbid pro- 
cesses, which may involve the deeper-seated membrane of 
the eye to such a degree as to not only affect the vision, 
but to destroy it. Too fine print, therefore, may be, I think, 
looked upon as a factor in producing eye disease, affecting 
not only the external, hut also the internal parts of the 
organ. 
On the other hand, too coarse print is wearisome to the 
eye, as it requires more exertion of the muscles governing 
themovementsof theeye; that is, for a given amount of mat- 
ter; and especially is this the case when the breadth of the 
page is, if anything, too great. This causes undue exertion 
on the part of the muscles which move the eye in a lateral 
direction, and is apt to lead to confusion in finding the 
next succeding line. It is for this reason that the narrow 
form of English blank verse is so little fatiguing to the 
eye. 
The popular prejudice in regard to the double column 
on a page would be untenable were it not that the same 
economy which restricts the amount of space also reduces 
the size of the type and crowds the lines together. A 
double column page which is well printed and properly 
divided is certainly preferable to the same amount of mat- 
ter extending in a single line across the entire page. Influence of School-lije on Eye-sight. 
15 
The distance between the lines, that is, from the bottom 
of the line to the top of the other, should be about or 
■one-eighth of an inch. Nearer than this is apt to be con- 
fusing; farther, fatiguing. 
Quality of Type.—The less contrast there is between 
an object and its surroundings, the more difficult it is to 
see the object, and the closer it has to be brought to the 
eye. A faintly printed page has, therefore, to be brought 
nearer, oftentimes very much nearer, than a well-printed 
page of the same type. There is nothing more wearisome 
to an eye than an indistinct and blurred image of a famil- 
iar object, and no more striking example of this could be 
found than blurred or faintly printed type. This should 
be sharply cut, and what is technically called “heavy- 
faced,” in contra-distinction to “light-faced” type. Of the 
former a common example is the English; of the latter, 
the American. 
The ink is also a matter of importance. 
English ink, like the type, is vastly superior to the 
American. The color and quality of the paper has also an 
influence upon the ease with which the act of vision is 
performed. For, while it is true that there should be as 
much contrast as possible between the type and its sur- 
roundings, care should be taken to avoid all glare or daz- 
zling of the page. Pure white paper, such as is ordinarily 
used in this country, should not be employed, most of all 
when it has, as it often does in the cheaper papers, a me- 
tallic lustre with a bluish tinge. I have come to the con- 
clusion that, as a rule, a very light, almost imperceptible, 
yellow tint is the best. This is known in the trade as 
“ natural ” tint, from the fact that it contains no dye what- 
ever, and has been bleached only to a moderate degree. It 
has the color of unbleached cotton cloth. It is, however, 
expensive, as it can only be made from the best stock; still 
a very good imitation can be had in some of the second- 
class papers at a moderate cost. The paper should be thick 
enough not to be transparent, should have a close, fine tex- 
ture, and be free from sponginess. 
From these facts I am of the opinion that, both in re- 
spect to size and quality, imperfect type maybe considered 
as a factor in the production of eye diseases. 16 
Influence of School-life on Eye-sight. 
Does too long and constrained attention to one object, 
without rest or variety, cause eye disease? 
That prolonged tension of the eyes may be the primal 
cause of a great number of diseases of the eye is admitted 
by all authorities, and the more fixed the gaze and the 
narrower the field of view, the greater the danger. If it 
be true that continued tension of muscular and nervous 
force unduly exhausts the energy of any organ, it is doubly 
true of the eye. The nervous energy of the retina, sensi- 
tive and rapid as it is, is just as rapidly exhausted, and 
the act of reading would he unbearable after a few mo- 
ments if the eye did not quickly change its position from 
letter to letter and from line to line. Diversity of action is 
as much a necessity in the case of the eye as of any other 
organ for an easy and lasting performance of its function. 
No eyes, in my opinion, should be used more than an hour 
at the farthest in the act of reading or writing without an 
interruption of the gaze, and it would be better if several, 
if not many interruptions should take place in the same 
time. 
This usually happens in the case of adults, for some 
reason or other; hut children, in order to complete their 
tasks in an allotted time, are often compelled to use their 
eyes, wdthout sufficient interruption, by the hour together. 
It would be impossible, and out of keeping with the con- 
densed character of these remarks, to enumerate here all 
the diseases which may arise from prolonged tension of the 
eyes on near work ; hut there is one affection produced by 
it, which is so frequent in its occurrence and so unfortunate 
in its results, that I cannot refrain from quoting the re- 
marks of the distinguished Prof. Donders. He says: 
“The distribution of near-sightedness chiefly in the 
cultivated ranks points directly to its principal cause: 
tension of the eyes for near objects. Respecting this fact 
there can be no doubt. 
“Three factors may here come under observation: 1. Press- 
ure of the muscles on the eye-ball in strong convergence 
of the visual axes; 2. Increased pressure of the fluids, result- 
ing from accumulation of blood in the eye in stooping; 
3. Congestive processes in the eye which, tending to soft- Influence of School-life on Eye-sight. 
17 
ening, give rise to extension of the membranes. Now, in 
connection with the causes mentioned, the injurious effect 
of tine work is, by imperfect illumination, still more in- 
creased. 
“‘To this it is to be ascribed that in schools where, by 
bad light, the pupils read bad print or write with pale 
ink, the foundation of near-sightedness is mainly laid, 
which, in fact, is usually developed in these years.” 
But little will be said in reference to desks and seats, 
though it would seem they deserve the most careful con- 
sideration on the part of those in charge of the education 
of children, since a large portion of a child’s life is spent 
behind the one and upon the other. It has been contended 
that every pupil should have a desk to suit his size, but 
this in many instances is impracticable for several reasons, 
but mainly on account of the expense. The chief idea to 
be borne in mind in the arrangement of desks is that t3iey 
should be so constructed that the children can sit without 
becoming too rapidly wearied, and that they (the desks) 
should not be so low as to cause the body to bend forward, 
nor so high as to make studying difficult, as in writing for 
instance. 
But of what use are all these proper arrangements at 
school, if as soon as the children get to their own homes, 
they write and study at tables that are inconvenient even 
for the grown members of the family? Of what benefit is 
the most superb illumination in the school-room, if the 
children, when at home, work several hours of the day in 
the corner of a badly-lighted chamber, and at night by the 
light of a flickering candle or lamp, used perhaps by five 
or six others of the family, and which is insufficient to 
properly light up the book or map of even one or two of 
the children? If we wish to protect the eyes of children 
during the time in which they are acquiring their educa- 
tion, give them above all things else, plenty of well-regu- 
lated light. 
They should be prohibited using their books during 
twilight, by the light of the moon, and certainly should 
they be forbidden such dangerous use of their eyes as read- 
ing in bed. 18 
Influence of School-life on Eye-sight. 
Says a well-known writer: “It seems to me that the 
very etymology of the word education enforces the idea 
that the child is to grow better and stronger up through 
his school life; that by proper regulation of his diet an 1 
management at home; by properly lighted school-rooms 
and properly constructed desks, and a better regulation of 
his hours of study, he should represent a much higher 
type of life when he has reached the age of twenty-five, 
than when he is just taken in hand with the view of 
giving him book knowledge. \Y7e certainly should not 
damage the eye in the process of education, and I believe 
that the damage done to the eye is to be taken as an ind*“x 
of that which is done to the other organs of the body.” 
In conclusion, when every school house in the land, 
and every school-room and school desk shall have been pro- 
perly constructed according to the most scientific investi- 
gations, and plenty of good light thrown upon books 
properly and plainly printed with good ink—when the 
habits of study of all children shall have been regulated, 
both in the school-room and at home, then do I feel con- 
vinced that while we may not be able to banish these par- 
ticular eye diseases from the world, without doubt will we 
be able to reduce them in number and in degree of severity.