Science.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XVIII, Issue 1699, 26 June 1885, Page 2 (Supplement)

Science.

Influence of 'Jivilisalion on Eye* sisht. At last week’s rac.-g-nr of the Society o! Arts, a piper on “ The Ititiu-nte of C;vili-ati r n on Eyesight” was read by Mr. 11. l':rr ! r.r.ull Carter, who paid t ; • to ecu i ; b - no not only that the e\as civ.li-ei Turn now po'sefsed it. was i r r;or t; that ,1 by as hauls which \;>. na-t fur . tv -tipped in Other particular;, bo,: .-.1.-) mat, .wu-inq-'t ourreive®, it ha! t-ihctt •- v..;-;-sly below thestandard of t-x y iijnee wh; •!■, it had attained in tome cl *h? fr-aiilies -,f toe hn nan race. An enorrooady Ir.rr: prop-ntot: of th--> whole German n. ‘i- n is comp s-H c! t’ e •' is of spectrcuand ri .-re i; tut;; dvr- ■ that the r.c-v-i for u -h 5-b a comnsr'-.tivoly r. r ‘ p-rud to Ist 2 the l&te Mr. V.V.rc- C'< nm-'d d to l;>yal Society the rt-ult ui s.0:; . 1 :av.---t- ' 'ior.; mta the sight of di.T rc-rt civ—.; ■ j-in -.d.) country, and he that, in t;u force re.-iinrntJ of F'ot e rit r J =, rhot; sb-::i was “ almost i;f rq- >:-■ ,r n. ' Du.: : '-g tw.-ntj year; ar.d iim l :u-:n, >vt bdf-a-dozen sc-lii-i- p, .1 ,i; wq; d. j.rr hr.lf-a-dezen reeruit- i-j tod or. >-.r-c oi it. In the Eilit-.i-'. re ■> n! f ». .-.M.rug 1 330 chibiriP, hr- f 1 1. 1 t- -u ti, -r? wore n:i cttnpiairh; of sV,.:t • n.l, r»«_ <!o««-r ineipsrieriCf -1 t.-, ; -1 i ..s;,-»• f-,,n it, Lvt ye-c, hi; frier,.i ar.y .quo, Mr. A is?;;. Fro-., was good t‘y.,,u:;b ; ~ . nii.c lot on a Iso‘lT-t.;ch--o l i’t t!;-- s , I j,- r,: - 0 , found that 73 ci iM.-o . f or r- t; -t mere than ti*. i-:. 1 i-u----npmiai vi.-ii-.-. Am- -r .-.-..i--short-i<Vi:'ed lit w-ri' o, .I, ;io ; w :o'd thus he cal'e-i iii-r.ti lor ur ; ro.:;;al . r.-nion in the act ( i k-n;. x-ni; r. w;,., ;-. : fo i to tul upon tii; ,r. i.it. r iif.q or 1 vvn i- b-ro they Icrw rthr b. Ir, 1' F- in G-, rom: y, I’, lessor C. Ini < '.,..-; : nra ibo .■. R . s ri 10.(TO sohool chiVr. r., >,:. d fourd Ii.JO oi t : . n, •„ jth Ot Sanity •- i'-ipe. Of 'r: - -. lnTd -vr-rc Ehr.o l tr-1, ]■■ ’ '.re- li-it-io*.u. tn v.ojl lit 1 subject f of a <,. . ; - - def-, c- 1.-P 0:c .1 - i MtigcnMi-in i :: v. r .1 t7. ri--- i‘ roL . ;he reeuits nf Tutvi-.u-jt,. ; , y. rt ,j ti,;School Bond for r to u.-i-dfn- on squally ester.nivr. l; v . o.rion, hat t'-i; . r was deemed in ,-n ci-.il 1.-.-tcr, wrirsn ;,i very bad English. II- c ;i!d not doubt, 1,, ever, from the inMdenral niuic'-; 0 ( tion at Lis c'nir-.aod, ’ba, the conditions found in one school by Mr. wouW, at least approximately, be np-tutod in many others. What he might fairly describe as national neglect 0! the t-ulii-.n- of the eves, am; of effort to improve the 1 ..unity of seeing, was chiefly due to the prevail mg absence of notion concerning the proper range and scope of the visual function, and hence concerning the powers which the eye., ought to pc.s-e-a. Fuw things were more remari-able than the common want of information about all matters which related to the use and functions of these important organa. In most other respects it might be said

! i'.-i 1 ; Ins nniority cf parents had a 'air know- : !:• i.y s' whet ought to be tha average powers car/rklihk.i of children. They knew, j .V'r-ntimitely at least, how ter a bey of tan I '. >;-!>■ old c -.aid reasonably be expected to walk, I new high or how far he could jump, how fast be. eiuld run, what weight ho could carry, what force he could exert. Thera was not o:;e parent in five hundred who had the smallest notion now largo an object—say a capital letter, boy ought to bo able to see clearly at one hundred feat away, or who eouid’tol! at w*«-t distance he ought to be able i to see and describe the characters of an obj j cr of given magnitude. There was not one parent in .'DO who could tell whether his c- ildren possess.-d natural colour vision, or who if the inquiry were suggested to him, would, brow hew to discover the truth. Mr. Francis Gallon had lately pointed out, with great force and lucidity, that one of the must important duties of man, at the present stags nf his development, was to regulate the progress of the evolution of his race; and one consequence of want of knowledge about vision was that the evolution of the eye had been left to tbs sport cf accident, or that it had even been injuriously affected by many of the circumstances incidental to civilisation. Into the operation of these circumstances it was now lime to inquire. For the organs of living beings there wan no resting-place ; they must either advance or deteriorate, either continue in a course of improvement under the influence of evolution, or “ throw back,” as breeders say, to an earlier and less finished type under the influence of sluggish and imperfect use. Of deterioration we had an abundance of examples, and in two especially common ways. We had the malformation of short eight, which had come into existence within historic time, and into prevalence almost within living memory, and which now affects at least one-tenth of our population ; and we had the malformation of flat-eye, which was plainly an involution, a return to an earlier and less perfect type, and which was attended, in the great majority of cases by an acuteness of vision below even the humble standard with which our dwellers in towns are wont to satisfy themselves. The remedy for the conditions which be had described must be sought, first of all, in a recognition of the fact that good sight is an important point of physical excellence, which, like any other such point, should be assiduously cultivated. He would urge parents to ascertain, as soon as their children knew the alphabet, whether they could decipher the letters at the proper distances. He would urge upon them, in tha case of every child whose vision was sub-normal, to ascertain the cause and nature of the defect, and to regulate not only the studies, but also, as far as possible, the future career, in accordance with it. He would urge upon all who had the control of schools, that the vision of every new pupil should be tested on admission, and that the tasks required should be controlled in accordance with its capabilities. He would urge that all lesson-books for very young children be printed in large type, and that the children should be compelled' to keep such books at a distance (the type in which ws often see texts of Scripture printed to be hung up in railway-waiting-rooms would be a good five for the purpose). He would urge that many of the school-hooka now in use should be abandoned ; and that new editions should be prepared, in type of at least twice the size, and twice the legibility (the latter depending much upon the shape and design of the letters) of that which was nowin use. Finally, he would urge upon all who were concerned in the organising of athletic sports and contests that excellence of vision should be highly esteemed in such competitions. He felt sure that if public attention were once fairly directed to the question, if the eyes received as much attention as the muscles, and if an intelligent knowledge of what they ought to accomplish were diffused abroad, that our country, in the course of two or three generations, would be peopled by a race who might engage, if not without fear, yet certainly without disgrace, in a seeing contest with any other representatives of the human family.— Standard.