SHORTSIGHTEDNESS IN SCHOOLS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XLVIII, Issue 5225, 17 November 1877, Page 3

SHORTSIGHTEDNESS IN SCHOOLS.

The following interesting letter aapeanr oror the signature of "Cl Mucke” In tb*> S. A. SegUter. It ooa teicr statement* e» which our own Board of Education w Hideswell to turn their attention During my residence as a scholar in Germany the shortsightedness in that country was not greater than amongst other nation*. Spectacles- we*» as a rule only worn by old peopls, and'il wao auoh a rarity to see young men with concaves glasses on that the wee ring of spectacles-we» a mark of pride. This was the state of thing** I can assure you, at my time—that is 50or GO years ago. Since then it has altered with » velocity that is really alarming. After tboi lapse of 35 to 45 years—that it 15'to3ft years since—the shortsightedness in Germany had Increased to snoh an extent, and waar ■ueh a common complaint, that ovesy* "°°y ■ attention waa attracted, to ift, and the necessity for delecting the oanaw of this frightful evil waa made apparent; But as nature like a mother finds an sotideter for a dangerous poison, so a man- waa found: whose genius prepared a remedy. It su the* gifted originator of a new way of treating tfaer eye whom the world acknowledges to be thar greatest benefactor of the human not—Dir Qrsfe, of Berlin. By the science originated by him the thorough cure of the disease aft the eye was established. His treatment haw been accepted by physicians of all nvtioo*,His pupil* and apostles are distributed throughout all land*. Even our colony possesses one of his pupils, and Melbourne another, and to their testimony I appeal in confirmation of my statement*. One of the pupil* of Dr Grafe, Dr Cohn, of Breslau, began bin scientific researches about 15 yean ago onto* alarming increase of shortsightedness of th* German youth. Theresnltsof hi* labours has* after repeated trial being verified by other physicians, and Dr Cohn subjected 10,00$ school children in and near Breslau to hi* examination: Amongst those he found 173 ft suffering from disease of the eye, tberetom more than 17 per cent. The number of those* who were shortsighted was in exact proportion to the scientific claims of the school and the faults in the arrangement of th* same. In the villages the average number of those suffering from disease of the eyes was only 5 per cent; in the national school*, in towns 15 per cent; in medium school* above 19 per cent; in ladies’ schools of the* higher order nearly 22 per cent; in schools of arte 24 percent; in colleges,(answering toour grammar-schools) 32 per cent. Concerning the duration of the harmful infiosxco on the youthful eye the following proportion was shownln the individual o) Mias of the School of Arts the number of disease of eyes rose from.Sexta,to Prims from 9 pew cent, to 44 per cent., so that nearly half of those In Frima were shortsighted. At tow colleges the number of sufferers mcreasaw from Sexta to Frima from 18 to 66 per east.* therefore more than half of the first ciaea were shortsighted, yet in one college too number increased to 64.8 per cent.; two-third* of the scholars therefore suffered Iran th* disease. How terribly these numbers increased Dr Oohn shows by his exandnalioe* of students in the University. The confirmed most accurately that these schools and college* which showed th* moet defective way of lighting the schoolroom* showed th«* greatest number of students to bo suffering: from disease of the eye. These terrible and perplexing proofs satisfy ns, and give ns a warning which only the most thoughtless can fail to acknowledge. Peoplo must not imagine that a German eye is mow subject to these injurious mult* than an. English eye. The same cause would product the same effects In England as it has don* in Germany. Tet even in England shorteightedneis is on the increase, and people only need pay a visit to the Theatre Boyal, Adelaide, to see how many are obliged to nao spectacles and opera glasses. The cause* which produce this terrible disease in Germany have been proved without a doubt by Dr Oohn. The first principal cause, he »*y*, i* the little attention which is paid to the lighting of schoolrooms as well in quality as in quantity. Wo have (Dr Oohn proceeds) seen a great many schoolrooms, but only found a very few among them when any attention has beott paid to the sufficient supply and rational distribution of the light. Tbs windows www either few in number ortheirsue was ineifr oient, or the plating of the eohool-takla* from the windows was wrong, or the numbs* of children placed on th# Wnobs# we* so great that only that* who were fitting near the windows had sufficient light; while* the other end of the table wee in deep shade. Frequently daziliog walls and objects from which the entering light was reflected warn ip front of the children; in some schools the nos was shining directly into lbs room. Thus stainments of Dr Oohn are perfectly convincing ass to the impolitic internal arrangements of our schools. Whoever thoroughly goee into th* subject will find that the same d efleiendee aro exhibited. The schoolrooms, which as* of aa immense sue, have no windows at all, but only (apertures) matohliks inoisiona,th*a*ma as we find in prisons, monasteries, or iamtia asylums, which cannot produce a sufficient or proportionate supply of light. ! Tetthomost important mistake is, what D» Oohn. did not find in a single sehoolhouse in Osmeoyvnamely, that the benches ere to arranged with, regard to the entering light that th* children have their becks turned to it, consequently are obliged to face the dealing wall.aod eho shadow from off their bodies Wle «the table they work at. Dr Oohn sayc"Of «U means for lighting schoolrooms which we «*s utilise, the daylight on aoooont of itoatswftband equalness is the most proper ; only cerwmutt be taken that full, direct, and reflecting light from the sun should be exateded." la our schools, seemingly to vflfaUy ignore tho principles of Dr Oohn, slatse npse*«oc to*®selves as nflectors before tbe eye sf owejr child. To require children to sit with thelight coming from tha right hand » decidedly wrong, beosHiie the shadow at toehand falls on the work. In our ecboo** thelight actually fails onthsbaefcsof tc*o6ildn». Tbs second principal cause of *bo**#igh fedorasin Germany is at present of les# oocwqueooeto ns in this colony, and I mention i* only foethe.sake of rendering the mattes mow complete. Itbae it* foundations in Uwaupecabundance or matter of Uaohieg, wbmb. compels the scholar to continue hi* work tSt home, whereby he is exposed to tbo dseadTantageoDi light of the morning.atoning; and also by th* os* of book* pnotod ic. small stereotypic print. Forthes, it psovwto the scholar the oxsieis* el the body, feHeave it to th* judgment of ear toeebec* whether my well-imaiil esnsuro the arrangement of our eeheolboceo ie f* 1 *** or not proved, and whether I or too Mud*"* of Education ie right. If in Germany •* "»• peifsot arrangement of edhooihofesw «*»£ which ha#caused this calamity, notso swuto blame Ie to be attaehdd to them, Mf excuse may he made that tbo schoolkeuaro were built In a time when the dotoeto war* not known, and it wm impossible toward? these mistakes by dsmoliahiag and ro-BuiWiog the sohoolhouMß. In our Oolonj.it woo** bo different, ft would be tweecn to ps.aod «* dearest treasure, our children, hqsto soap too advantage which may bo derived from prafe experiences, so that the torrihl* gtisfaka* made by others may not he topc&rd. A •oboolhouse built according to-titoadsfasof Orsfe and Cohn would cost no xatoo t host lao ■ built with all the former mistakeorapraftat It is ol the utmost impostano# itoi toe*« matters should be inquired into oait dealt with boss, and that the discovery of thofcfate should not h* dcfensd until ell our aebool* have hosu builtiThe Board oiHealtb should even interfere in look a aesrioos mailer, which the FarliswMßHn •uah'an o*m should not be led by a. spriohpf to* ol Edoeotionof whomit i* welß»‘>w» chat be is be authority in thie matter. -.-«■