ABOUT YOUR EYES

Greymouth Evening Star, 7 September 1939, Page 10

ABOUT YOUR EYES

POPULAR FALLACIES DISCOUNTED I It used to be commonly said- that the piercing of the ear lobes strengthened the eyes, .writes an expert optician. . This belief persists to-day. ■ The argument in support of this statement was that the irritation set up 'by the ear-piercing relieved any inflammation about the eyes. Of course, ■ this idea- has no foundation in fact, -because there is no direct relationship .between the eyes.and the ears. Brown eyes are stronger than blue ;eyes. This statement, too, is very common. Again, there is no scientific .'reason to support such an idea. The colour .of'the.eyes depends on the general pigmentation of the body. For 'example, fair, people generally have .'blue eyes and dark people have brown ’eyes.

“It. is also widely believed that if a. child has a squint or “cast,” it will disappear as the.child grows. This is not often the case—in fact, the defect often becomes more pronounced. The

reason why it does not correct itself is because the processes that coordinate the two eyes and make them function as a unit, are broken down, and there is little likelihood of improvement without attention to the eyes. An occasional squint when a baby is teething or ill is an exception .and may be only a passing difficulty. If the eyes have to turn strongly inward to look at some object very near the nose, it is .sometimes thought they will, stay crossed in that position. This statement is also inaccurate, as ini-1 mediately the gaze is fixed on a more* distant- object they.will diverge again. In everyday use, the eyes have to turn inward to make .both look directly and simultaneously at a near object. If they did not do this the object would appear double. So in reality' this crossing of the eyes is a normal function if the object is dose to the observe i.