Show babool lifo and byeis eyesight ight 18 F V alta A alta the bureau ahwash in ington ton liaa baa published an address addre on tag the c subject abject of tho the effects of student life upon the eydi eyesight the gist of which is that a very large percentage pere t of children permanently injure their eyes while at school the treats of various complaints complaint caper ut u t the observations on the common com no defect of near are especially interesting the deductions deduction are drawn from statistics of schools 8 in this country and abroad including in observations on about children dren from F rom these it ap appears pears near sig sight it edness is rarely found in children under five or six six year yeam old the defect could scarcely bo discovered in the primary classes of the schools examined bitt with cadi each rise in grade or each added year of school attendance tenda uce it rapidly increased until in the highest classes class acs an unnatural was often found in as many as seventy ly per r cent of the pupils again it is found that the defect is much more common in the city schools than in those owing awill to the better general surroundings roun dings ings less strain and more reet rest fur for the eve ayo in the coll country n try colored children singularly enough tough are remarkably mar kably free from t the to complaint it seems well estable established hed that tho the tendency to myopia or near sight ness is aften hereditary but the conclusions drawn from the observations made arc are that it is is more generally the of the organs during school attendance there are two claims of influence in fl bence that conduce to t fais is result ona includes all those things that cause a straining to the eye as fine print bad light and tho the like the other includes those influences that cause a rush of blood to the head bead as bad ventilation excessively hard study coupled with an uncomfortable construction st of desks and benches or habitual bad positions in sitting probably these facts are not new as it appears that some of the authorities ties quoted are of long standing but however well known they may lay be among professional men and opticians tic ti ians clans they arc are little known and less heeded by those who have charge olour of our schools public private and collegiate A class room or a study room is a mere tr trap f for dwarfing dwar dvar fing and deforming chi children rd u unless it bo be thoroughly well lighted and ventilated this is certainly well known to the school authorities and undoubtedly some attention is given to the subjects of light and ventilation by school architects it did not need the statistics of nearsightedness near sightedness to inform them of thiv but it may be that these statistics will give them new insight into what constitutes proper lighting A 1 room may have plenty of light being 0 well lighted the Tho light may come from the tile wrong direction or it may be imperfectly distributed the amount of window opening that would suffice fora cloudy day would cause an unpleasant pleasant uri and harmful glare on a bright day it is not to be cuip supposed ased that this subject has bas received no attention but there arc so many olour of our schoolrooms that are so woefully ully defective and d in in so many ways that it would seem as though all theda the data tn were accessible from which to choose I 1 a 11 measurably good plan of lit lighting a 1 t i ug it is for the teacher of course to so shape abe exercise and guide the childrens study that their reEt less little eyes shall receive tho minimum of abuse |