COLD WATER AND THE EYES

Evening Star, Issue 12258, 27 July 1904, Page 3

COLD WATER AND THE EYES

Many persons are daily ruinimr their eyes by opening them in cold water in the morning (says the ' Family Doctor : ). Cold water will harden and roughen the hands, and much more will it do so to the manifold more delicate covering of the eye', or tho eye will, in self-defence, become scaly in the manner of a fish—that is, the coats of the eye will thicken, constituting a species of cataract, which must impair the Bight. That water, cold' and harsh as it is, should be applied to the eye for curative purposes in place of that soft, warm lubricating fluid which Nature manufactures just for such purposes indicates great mental obliqxiity. Water when applied to the eyes should be luke-warm, and even then it should only be applied by closing the eyes and flapping it against the lids with the hand. This cools the eye more rapidly than cold water does, and without the shock, while its soothing effect is delightful, washing out the yellow and other matter that may have accumulated overnight in half the time required by cold water.