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10
We are today using our eyes under conditions which are quite different from
the circumstances under which the eye was developed.
When Euclid (or whoever it was before him) introduced geometry with straight
lines and right angles, he introduced a difficulty our eyes were never designed to
meet. One man no doubt sees an oak leaf one shape and another man sees it a
different shape and it does not matter at all, but straight lines and right angles are
altogether a different proposition and any minor disability in the apparatus of the
eye is noticeable; in a word, therefore, because straight lines and right angles are
the order of the day it is necessary to correct relatively minor errors.
There is another disability from which we are suffering today, and that is a
very large number of us now for long periods of the day are living under conditions
where the eye has not its necessary periods of rest. The eye can never be at rest
unless it is focussed on something about 20 feet away or over.
In the ordinary classroom, therefore, unless the child is looking out of the
window instead of doing his work, the eye of the normal child is rarely completely
at rest. This disability is increased considerably where for long periods the child
is engaged on desk work.
The Victorians with their mirrors (which unfortunately have gone out of fashion)
had this advantage over us, that at least these mirrors did double the distance of
the object at which they were looking.
In many cases this accommodation is relatively easy in children although more
difficult in adults, but it still does have some effect on the eyes of children.
As a matter of fact the eye is not a precision instrument as a piece of optical
apparatus. It is the brain beyond the eye which, by trial and error, learns to see
clearly what is, after all, only imperfectly focussed on the back of the eye.
I am not suggesting that children should be encouraged to look out of windows
instead of doing their work, but I do suggest they should be definitely taught when
not actively engaged on some task, to rest their eyes by looking at something in the
distance.
ORTHOPTIC CLINIC.
Question:—What treatment is given for squint, and is it successful ?
Answer:—Training the eyes cannot be undertaken until the child is able to
look at pictures and it has been found by experience that it is an intelligent child who
can do this before the age of four or five. Unfortunately, training in the muscles of
the eye does not do much good after the child is eleven or twelve years old. It is
therefore necessary to concentrate between these years. What is done is as
follows:—