EYE GYMNASTICS

Waipa Post, Volume XXIV, Issue 1607, 14 February 1925, Page 6

EYE GYMNASTICS

HELP TO SPORT AND MOTORING.

The subject of eye gymnastics is of considerable practical interest not only to airmen (says Squadron-leader E. Brown, in the National Review), but to many others and particularly to those who play games and drive motor cars. The fact is known only to a few, yet it it is not improbable that a day will come when a simple test will be undertaken by many athlete's and others to ascertain whether the eye gymnastics are advisable or not.

An air pilot is often judged by his landings. A skilful pilot can almost land in a back garden; an unskilful one or one in need of eye gymnastics needs an immense field, and even then will often land in such clumsy fashiorf as to injure the under carriage or do some other damage, to the machine or himself. This may be due to lack of skill or to a peculiar visual defect. When young pilots are frequently making bad landings it is not long before they are sent to interview the medical officer to see if it is a mattet within his sphere. The pilot may be a duffer or he may simply lack a quality of vision which is essential to flying. “ MUSCLE BALANCE ” OF THE EYES. As the pilot rapidly approaches the earth at an oblique angle in order to land the ground appears to come up towards him and it is this precise moment that he must be able to appreciate accurately how far he is from the earth, so that he can make the necessary movements to flatten oui. at the right moment. His vision is then concerned solely with a near object approaching him rapidly, and he must be able to focus that moving object steadily, or he will make a mess of his landing. This quality of vision has nothing to do with accurate vision for a near or distant object. It is simply a quality of “ muscle balance,” of the eyes, and the" sight may in all other respects be perfect. In many cases in which bad landings are frequently made it is found that the eye muscles’ balance property is imperfect to a greater or less degree, and the subject is sent to a school for a course of eye gymnastics, for that is what the treatment of the defect actually amounts to.

The defect has long been well known to opthalmic surgeons, and rather more vaguely to the general practitioner;- but the advent of flying has given it an immediate practical importance it never before possessed, and it is only since then that serious and successful measures have been introduced to remedy and cure it. The treatment, which lasts about a month, consists in exercising and training the little muscles that rotate the eyeball to focus more accurately, just as other muscles are trained and exercised, and when this is achieved the candidate is able to focus the well-known “ parrot into a bird-cage.” SIMPLE TEST FOR DEFECT.

With the aid ,of a friend, and without apparatus, anyone may find whether the defect exists. Let the one to be tested stand squarely upright facing a strong light and looking directly forward. The friend who is to examine the eye stands directly facing the other, and about two feet away. The friend now 'holds a pencil about two feet from the candidate’s face at the level of the bridge of the nose, and the candidate is told to fix his eyes steadily on its point. As he does so the friend slowly and steadily approaches the pencil towards the face until it is about two inches away and watches the eyes closely. One or other of two things may happen. Both eyes may converge steadily on the point of the pencil. In that event the defect does not exist. Or one or both eyes may turn or wobble out a little as the pencil approaches. In that case the defect does exist. The degree of its existence is shown by the extent to which this occurs and the distance

from the eyes when it begins. Further,, if the experiment is repeated, the eyes become fatigued if imperfect in this respect. What is the value of such a test to those who do not fly and do not expect to fly? There is just this value: it may provide you with the reason why you do not excel at games in which a moving ball has to be hit or kicked.** These games embrace tennis, hockey, cricket, and football; and when it does exist appropriate treatment) may cure the defect and enable you to play a better game. Flying men who have undergone the treatment find that when they play cricket their batting averages increase, and that a t tennis they can take a fast overhead service with more success.

A CAUSE OF BATTING FAILURES. Consider the case of the batsman. Suppose you were facing the district demon bowler. You fear from earlier experience that a speedy return to the pavilion is probable. Why? Temperament, or want of rapid co-ordin-ation of muscle and nerve, may be the cause of your failure as a batsman. They cause, however, may simply be the existence of this particular defect of vision, owing to which you lose sight of a fast tall as it travels down the pitch. Another way in which rapid and steady convergence of the eyes is of general value is in the handling of a car in a crowded highway. Here you are travelling in one moving vehicle and approaching or passing others that are also moving. It is essential that the eyes shall be in a condition to judge correctly how far off the other cars are, and whether you can safely pass or dodge between the cars. Probably many accidents which are put down to errors of judgment are really due to the defect of vision described.