Show 1 I HE EYES A point often overlooked in caring or the little mites it is a very common thing to see an infant gaze unblinkingly at a bright light without any attempt being made on the part of the parent or nurse to prevent it A still more harmful prac-tice is to allow a baby to take its daily ride with its little face upturned to the bright open skies without the carriage sunshade to protect its eyes if there is no bright sunlight the nurse takes it for granted that alic shade is unneces-sary forgetting eliat gazing up into the sky is really painful after the eyes become tired of the bright light it seems to bo the general supposition I 1 that infants eyes have remarkable powers of endurance in this respect and that no harm will result from the ex-posure this is a great mistake for an infants eyes are in reality more sus-cceeppttiiblle to injury than an adults A child is totally unable to protect itself during the first weeks of lifeby moving its head or shading its eyes therefore its nurse or attendant should protect it from exposure to strong sunlight gas-light or strong artificial light of any kind the eyelids of an infant are thin and almost transparent and the eyelashes but little developed so that even when the baby is asleep a strong light should not be allowed to fall on its closed eyes it is not wise to fall into the opposite extreme however and keep the child in a dark room or shroud its face when out of doors with heavy veils since these practices render the eyes un-naturally sensitive but the endeavor should be made to allow only diffused light to reach the sensitive little aorrbss when children have passed the age of infancy and begin to use their eyes intelligently parents should make it a point to study and ascertain the condi-tion of their vision says a well known authority A slight defect in the shape of the eye constituting short-sighteeddnneessss or ffsaairrgshigthetdednneessss may practically disappear so as to cause the individual no trouble if the eyes are properly managed while on the other hand it may be aggravated into a seri-ous impairment of vision if child is improperly trained in the use of the eyes the power of sight in later years is much influenced by the time of life at which children are required to under-take close and continuous efforts with the eyes for most children this con-tinued effort begins when they com-mence school and it is of ten aggravated by poorly lighted apartments A child with weak or sensitive eyes should not be called upon to practice music from notes for any great length of time while the child is young if the prac-tice is supposed to be absolutely neces-sary divide the time into three four or even five periods so that the eyes may rest as constant gazing at the small black dots will weaken the strongest eyes where squinting is noticeable in children one may be sure there is de-fective formation of the eyes in the majority of cases this results in too great flatness of the eye this should be attended to as soon as it is noticed as the longer it continues the worce are the results the remedy for squinting in its earlier stares lies in the use of glasses but if the squinting lias been allowed to go on for several years a slight operation will be needed and there should be no hesitation in sub-mitting to it A good oculist should be consulted if there is the least sign of imperfect vision while the child is young this may save trouble in later years boston herald |