Amherst at the time of graduation, four years later, he found the myop had increased to 47.2 per cent.

In Cincinnati, of 630 pupils-10 per cent. in the district-14 per cent. in the intermediate, and 16 per cent. in the normal and high school were found to be myopic. In Buffalo, from five, at seven years of age, it increased to 26 per cent. at eighteen. Every fourth graduate of the Buffalo high school was found to be myopic. In Columbus, Dr. Allen found, as a result of the examination of 4,700 pupils, 1,175-25 per cent.—with one och eyes defective. The percentage of myopia increased from 0 per re lowest primary to 13 per cent. in the senior class in the high r cent. among the females of that class. He noted the eng glasses and the very small proportion

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ess than ten per cent.

From an over the councy in fact the same reports come in. Wherever careful exci Cors are made, myopia is found to be on the increase in going Fema e lower to de errades. And not only does the number of those afi eten increase, but the degree of nearsightedness is found to increase from year to year during school life. Now, what is the significance of these facts? Is it not this? The education obtained by our young men who are so fortunate as to take collegiate degrees, in addition to the expenditure of time, money and painful effort, costs from one-third to one-half of them one of the greatest blessings that one can possess― perfect sight.

In other words, by observing the tables given above, it will be seen, that according to our present system, a certain amount of vision must be sacrificed for a certain amount of education.

There can be no doubt that most of us would say, that, taking this all into account, the value of a higher education is such that it is worth while to obtain it even at such a cost. Certain it is that the poor children, whose eyes are being needlessly sacrificed, will make no complaint. They often do not even realize what is producing their trouble, and stumble and become awkward at play without knowing the cause.

But have we who have them in charge, the right to inflict on them such a burden, to be borne through the remainder of their lives?

That with the exception of a very small proportion of cases myopia could be entirely prevented is beyond doubt; and it remains for the parents, teachers, guardians, and school boards who have in charge the education of the rising generation to say whether they shall be nearsighted or not.

The acceptance of a trust implies, and lays upon the one who accepts it, certain responsibilities. And when the State assumes the control of

public education, those who act for the State should realize all that th responsibility implies.

The danger which besets all our institutions meets us here, namely: division of responsibility.

The more paternal forms of government, with all their drawbacks, have this advantage; an evil being once discovered, the remedy can be applied promptly. If those in high places can be convinced of the need of reform, the reform is inaugurated.

Thus, in Germany,rapid strides are being made toward the correction of this evil, while here we must wait until public opinion-our ruling power-has been aroused to the necessity of action.

Any reform in our school system that is radical enough to accomplish much toward removing the causes of this great evil would involve action, and quite decided action, on the part of our boards of education. And when, by a diffusion of knowledge on the subject, our boards of education are made to realize that public sentiment is ready for, and will endorse it, such radical action may confidently be looked for.

The power to remedy this evil then, and consequently the responsibility for its continuance, rests primarily with the school boards, but the superintendents, teachers, parents and general public must share it with them The teachers, particularly if they would devote sufficient attention to the subject, would find it in their power to do much to lessen the frequency of such trouble and to check its development when, unfortunately, it is established.

There should be no shirking responsibility in such matters. If each one concerned in the management of our public schools would inform himself or herself on the subject, and then make use of the information when occasion arises, the number of spectacled and half-blind citizens would in time be materially diminished.

A board of education nominated and elected by the ordinary methods, often falls far short of the highest ideal. Even when actuated by the best of motives, it is often made up of men a number of whom are not adapted through education, taste, or surrounding influences to take a comprehensive view of this all-important subject. The superintendent is generally far better qualified, but unless he be a man of great power to influence others, he is too often merely the agent, and almost the servant of the board.

And when we come to the teacher we find, as a rule, a young woman who is weighed down with the discipline and care of a large roomful of children of various mental and physical powers, and has a certain task set for her to perform each day, with the principal, superintendent and school board as task-masters, and that bug-bear, the final examin

ation, looming up in the distance as a great trial of strength toward which she must lead or drive her pupils, and through which she must carry them, in a manner, to compare favorably with other teachers of the same grade, or suffer the disgrace of defeat and fall in the estimation of her employers.

Such a teacher may occasionally be able to detect a gross defect of vision, or to discover when a child is manifestly unwell, and by calling the attention of the parent to the subject may avert evil consequences. Indeed, they often manifest unusual discernment and care in this matter. But what qualifications, and, if qualified, what time has such a tired and over-worked teacher, amid all her various duties of discipline and instruction, to devote to the careful and patient consideration which we all know is so necessary to the detection of the first signs of disease, or the correction of habits which may lead to disease? When we consider the disadvantages under which they labor, the frequency with which they are able to be of service to the parents in this direction does credit to their devotion to duty and the interest they take in their pupils, but how many cases the conscientious teacher can recall of pupils who have seemed slow to comprehend, at times apparently dull, and who, after bearing this reputation for months, or perhaps years, have been discovered to be made so by defective vision which has escaped observation merely because no one has had time or occasion to concentrate their attention on them with a view to discovering such a cause.

What, then, are the causes which produce so much myopia, and how may it be prevented?

The eye is so intimately associated with, and so dependent for its perfect functional activity on the integrity of the general health, that it is difficult to consider the question of preventing disease of the eye without encroaching upon other departments of the subject of hygiene. Show me a child who is developing myopia, and I will show you a child whose general health demands attention. This is true in almost every case. But more will be said of this later on.

Myopia, as has already been said, consists in the lengthening out of the eyeball in a direction from before backward, by thinning and stretching of its coats, and is brought about by those causes which produce constant or long-continued congestion of the blood-vessels within the eye. It is rarely, though sometimes, congenital. In its hereditary form it is usually the tendency to its development rather than the condition itself that is transmitted, and in the case of the child whose parents are myopic, whether it becomes myopic or not usually depends upon the manner in which the eyes are used when it attains the age at which it begins to observe small objects closely. The more common indirect causes are:

1. Overwork of the eyes, too long-continued eye-strain without intermissions of rest to relieve engorgement of vessels, which produces chronic congestion and favors softening of the coats of the eye.

2. Insufficient light, requiring eye-strain, which leads to congestion as above.

3. Improper position of the body, as stooping over work, or any posture, or garment, which impedes the circulation and thus mechanically produces congestion.

4. Small, indistinct or imperfect print, requiring eye strain.

5. Lack of proper ventilation, over-heated rooms, choit to study when tired or sleepy, and all those conditions which cause congestion of the head.

These same indirect causes which, in those so disposed, are so cetive in the production of myopia, in the more numerous farsighted and asgmatic eyes produce a class of symptoms which, if not so serious in their consequences, are even more distressing and more apt, if left uncorrected, to interfere with study.

These symptoms belong to the class of functional nervous disorders, and are, in fact, induced by loss of the nervous and muscular vigor which had previously enabled the patients to overcome their congenital farsightedness and astigmatism.

Overwork, and especially the worry induced by the requirements of school methods which attempt too much, and give too little heed to physical development, are the active causes of this, as they are of many of the other nervous affections of the pupils of our public schools.

These children complain of headache, particularly in the forehead, of tiring and aching of the eyes, and blurring of letters when they attempt to read. Often they are dizzy, and in bad cases even nausea is produced by prolonged effort. More or less disturbance of the external muscles of the eyes is present in some cases, and at times this goes so far as to produce strabismus, or cross-eye. Four-fifths of the cases of convergent strabismus are said, on high authority, to be due to farsightedness.

And, as has been mentioned before, it is by no means uncommon, where the same child is observed for a series of years, to find farsightedness, when associated with astigmatism even in a low degree, gradually diminishing and passing over into nearsightedness.

Farsightedness and astigmatism are congenital and seldom, or practically never, increase. Low degrees are extremely common, but, under proper hygenic conditions cause no serious inconvenience.

So long as the above causes are avoided, the subject is even unaware of their existence, and only realizes the source of his discomfort when,

on appealing to a physician for relief, a careful examination is made by the aid of correcting lenses.

The extreme frequency of farsightedness and astigmatism in children, and their importance as factors in the production of the more permanently injurious condition, myopia, has not been properly appreciated, even by ophthalmologists, until quite recently; but aside from the fact that they lead to this condition in many, they every year hinder many more children in the successful prosecution of their studies.

Let us now consider some of the means by which the frequency of the occurrence of such defects may be lessened and the great work of the public schools accomplished without this wasteful expenditure of nervous power and the consequent defects of vision. The relation between these defects and general diseases is so intimate that the prevention of the former can only be considered in connection with the latter. The object of our schools is education and, at the outset it is well to have a clear idea of what we mean by this term. A preparation for a useful, prosperous and happy life is undoubtedly what is desired by the parents who send their children to our schools. But if we ask them how they wish this object accomplished and in what directions they wish them trained there will be great diversity of opinion according to what their ideas of life may be. Teaching a child to "read, write and cypher" and putting into his brain the facts of science is not, in the truest sense, educating him.

The development in the child of physical, moral and intellectual strength and the power to meet and successfully overcome the difficulties, and enjoy the pleasures of this life is the true province of education, and all conditions which aid, in this harmonious development should be the subject of careful study by those who have to do with the education of youth.

That a certain amount of physical strength is necessary to the highest intellectual attainment will be granted by all, but that the physical condition of school children has not received the attention it should, is evident. No further demonstration of this fact can be required after the presentation of the statistics given above of the prevalence of defective vision.

A change has taken place, and is taking place in our physical constitution as a nation and though, with the union of the blood of many diverse people, we have the elements of great strength, it is apparent that, if not actually degenerating, we are certainly not availing ourselves of all the means we possess of developing the physical power so necessary to the intellectual supremacy to which we aspire. As a people we should realize that the American of the future will be largely what we of the present day make him. Perhaps no nation ever had within its control a force so potent for shaping its own future as we possess in our public school system.