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nevertheless, a uniform charge of 2s. 6d.. is made to the parents in
respect of each pair of spectacles supplied.
On his work during the nine months that the clinic has been
established, Dr. Cummings writes as follows:—
"I have the honour of presenting to you the first report
of the Ophthalmic Department.
"As usual in new ventures, a certain amount of prejudice
was shown by some parents at the suggestion that they should
have their children's sight tested; others strongly objected to
their children wearing glasses ; others—and these were grandmothers—said
they had brought up large families and had
never heard of such a thing; but on the whole people seemed
grateful for the opportunity of having their children's eyes
tested free of charge.
" On the part of the smaller children crying was not uncommon
at first, latterly they have been quite good.
"Since the work commenced in April, 1914, I have seen
327 cases, GO of which did not complete the whole course; of
these latter most have left the neighbourhood ; some were ill
at the time appointed to attend, and in spite of fresh engagements
did not turn up; others, whose parents objected to the
idea, did not attend after the first visit.
"The subjoined table shows the number and variety of
the visual defects. The predominance of astigmatic cases
over simple long and short sight is probably due to the fact
that the worst cases are picked out and sent to me, and these
are usually due to astigmatism. There were seven cases of
marked defect in acuteness of vision, in which it was
impossible to improve the vision at all in one eye. There
were ten cases of actual disease of the eye, in which glasses
were useless: such as scars of old Ulcers, Choroiditis,
Keratitis, Opacities, and one case of Retinal Detachment by
growth or blood clot. The defects of vision in 30 cases of