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saying that, as the child's eyes are no better, they refuse to have
ointment further applied. Thus, a whole week's work may be
wasted, as visits to the house paid by the S.M.O. or Nurse may
fail to find the parents at home, so still further explanation is
impossible. If the parents are seen, an unwilling consent is
obtained, coupled with the information that one or both parents
are " much against the wearing of spectacles.'' On one occasion
the parents changed their minds twice during a day as to permission
to continue interrupted treatment. In another case, where
the child had been treated the full number of times and failed to
appear before the Oculist, it was found that the father (who was
a coster) had taken the child with him that afternoon for a ride
on his barrow. It is possible that this was not intentional,
but at any rate it shows a lamentable ignorance of the value
of the Oculist's work,
Among better-class parents there is a tendency to prefer
gold-rimmed spectacles, obtained from an optician, to the plainer
variety, with accurate lenses, supplied after examination by an
Oculist. Perhaps the risk run is not fully understood, but
opticians are not legally entitled to use mydriatics, and many
cases of astigmatism can only be properly tested where the eye
muscles of accommodation have been thrown out of action by
atropine.
The following case illustrates the difficulties of administration.
In 1909, a child, D. S. (in a Junior Department), was found
suffering from defective sight and advised to procure glasses. A
hospital letter was given for treatment at a special eye hospital,
and the mother promised to take the child, but always failed to
keep her word. Seventeen visits were paid by the School Nurse,
much pressure was brought to bear by the Head Teacher, but
the mother would neither return the hospital letter nor avail
herself of its benefits, though always promising to do so. In
May, 1911, D. S. obtained glasses, and it was reasonable to suppose
that these had come from the eye hospital. In December, 1911,
when the S.M.O. was visiting a school, D. S. (now in the Senior