TALKS ON HEALTH

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 78, 2 April 1938, Page 3

TALKS ON HEALTH

EYES AND EYEGLASSES There are of you who have no need cf eye-glasses for walking along th? j streets and recognising some distance off friends whom you wish to avoiu, ! but are, at the same lime, in urgent ne?d cf glasses for close work, such as sew.ng, typewritin,;, or reading. The roan who announces that he can see the church clock from the railway station and, therefore, cannot need glasses, is not aware how foolishly he is talking. His eyes are attuned for long-distance vision, and arc strained when focused on a near point. The Eye and the Camera. The resemblance between the mechanism of the human eye and that of the photographic camera is only partial. There are important differences. In both there are lenses and sensitive plates to receive the image. In focusing an object with a camera the lens is moved forwards or backwards; but in the eye the focusing is done by altering the thickness of the lens. This j.s done by a pull of a small muscle. When the eye is looking at a distant object, this small muscle is completely at rest. When the eye is fixed on a near object, this little muscle is called into play, and it becomes tired just as the arm gets tired when it has to carry a bucket of water. It is to assist this muscle that glasses are ordered

The Children’s Eyes It is a common error to suppose that the two eyes are equal m strength. A boy of tw?rve looking down the road sees his mother coming when she is a long way off, but he is not old enough to realise that he is seeing only with one good eye, and tba: the other eye is not focusing her at all. Years and years ago, when I first started waiting these fairy stor’es for you I had to deal with a stiffrecked race ol parents wno saw no reason why they should pay any attention to the eyes of their children. If L asked th mi if there was anything wrong with the eyes of their precious offspring they would answer. “We du net know.” The Superwoman. But now, v. hat a change has come I over the country! A fine race of super wemen has sprung up, women with :eal intellects, with a sense of responsibility, X'itr. a burning desire to do their fest by their children. If, to-day, I raise my hat and politely ask if the children's eyes are all right, the dear mother answers, “Mary’s right eye kastigmatic, and Charlie has to wear glasses het: v;e he squi i*’s . nut all the other child; er have jarfe it vision because I have tested .he n myself.” 1 die happy Ir 1840, c is safe to say, no single mother thought about the ill-effects of neglected defect in the eyes. To-day, of course, there does not exist in the country one single father or mother who does not test the child’s vision every six months with the different-sized letters of the advertisment sheets of the newspaper. It’s a grand world. Lead-Poisoning. The aches and pains of disorders that follow in the wake of lead-pois-oning are so numerous and far reaching in their effects that precautions should be taken by all those who are exposed to the risk by reason of their work to avoid contamination by the lead. Painters and plumbers are more liable to suffer from “painters colic,” as is is called, than workers in any other trade. Acute pains in the bowels accompanied by obstinate constipation and headache, are the commonest symptoms. Sometimes the lead attacks the nerves and causes paralysis of the muscles on the back of the forearm, so that when the arm is held out the wrists drop and cannot be raised. Along the line where the teeth join the gums a blue discoloration may often be seen. Chronic leadpoisoning, lasting over many years may be associated with gout and chronic Bright’s disease of the kidneys, and there have been a number of cases described of insanity, loss of memory, and other cerebral affections.

Prevention is Better Than Cure All these troubles could be avoided. No great effort or profound knowledge is necessary. The only precaution to be observed is to wash the hands after touching paint, white lead, etc. Men working amongst paints or lead are much more careful than they used to be, with the result that the painter’s colic is not nearly so common as formerly. But still, unfortunately, one meets with this dreadful disease in careless subjects, especially boys who have not reached the years of discretion. At every meal the bread is broken and put into the mouth by hands that are soiled by particles of lead. The amount of lead absorbed into‘the system at one meal must be very small, but in the course of weeks months, and years the total gradually rises, until sufficient of the metal accumulates in the body to give rise to symptoms. The doctor can help his patient in relieving most of the symptoms but it is almost an impossibility to dissolve and eradicate from the tissues the lead which has steadily collected during the past ton or fifteen years. With increased care and enlightment we hope that before long lead-poisoning may be an unknown disease. The list of disease is quite long enough; it would be a splendid work to cross off such a serious item as lead poisoning. Measles—and After Never forget that what you have to fear when a child has measles is not the rash but the bronchitis that accompanies the complaint. The rash looks so red and angry that the mother’s whole attention is directed to it, and she thinks that when the rash has gone the child is cured. That is a mistake. The child must be kept, in bed until the cough is bettor; what happens only too often is that the

child is allowed to get up before the bronchitis is cured, and the lungs become inflamed. Inflammation of the lungs or pneumonia is a common cause of death in children. THE USEFUL CORK CAN BE ORNAMENTAL, TOO. While some of us simply cannot bring ourselves to cut string, but must even at the ris’c of a damaged nail, untie the knots, there are others among us who have the same tender feeling towards corks, and cherish in a special bag every one that comes our way. Apart from the convenience cf being able to replace at once one that has broken in use, corks are useful *n all sorts of ways. Most of us know, for instance, that a large one dipped into

knife polish is excellent for occasional u.-c if the k/i’ves are not all of the sta ij’ess va.’iety, while another big one clipped in paraflin and whitening removes stubborn marks on porcelain sinks. If a picture-eye is screwed into the top of the cork and a string looped Ihrough it can hang on some convenient hook or nail and be always handy. Fewer of us seem to realise I how easily those unsightly marks on I the wall can be avoided by glueing a disc of cork on the backs of pictures | and mirrors at the two bottom cornI ers. Also how much dimming or | scratching of polished surfaces can be j prevented by sticking thin slices of i cork on the bottoms of trays at the four corners. I How many people who enjoy float--1 ing flower-heads in a decorative bowl have tried resting them on rounds of | cork, which, themselves invisible, save 11ho underneath petals from becoming

sodden? If a hole is made with a redhot skewer in the centre of the rounc a tiny length of stem can be pokec through and the life of the flower! pre longed. Although the bag of corks is unlikely to hold anything big enough for the purpose, and a small cork will have to bo bought, mention must be made of the little floacng gardens, since t iey make welcome gifts. First, make six or seven holes in the cork, soak it in warm water and sprinkle it with grass seed. Leave it in a dark cupboard in a bowl half-filled with water until the grass has begun to come up well. Little flowers and leaves can be arranged and rearranged in the holes, while in a small forest of young oaks --the holes in the cork naving been made big enough to take well-soaked a r d sprouting acorns—tiny china deer roam through the grass, which needs frequent cutting, to the delight of the small bed-ridden owner.