In New York and Boston, the children are given instruction in hygiene, taught to properly care for the nose, throat, eyes and teeth. These lessons begin as early as the second grade, and are illustrated with charts showing how perfect teeth and eyes should look. These lessons include the harmful effect of enlarged tonsils and adenoids, and the children are very anxious to be in as perfect condition as those shown in the pictures. A teacher of one of these classes in Boston took her children to a museum, where they spent a morning studying statuary. The next day, wishing to see how they had been impressed by what they saw, she asked, among other questions, "What do you remember about Aphrodite?" One little boy held his hand up, saying, "She has adenoids." "What makes you think so?" asked the teacher, wonderingly. "Why, she had her mouth open all the time." The children learn just how far from the eyes a book should be held, and often call attention to a companion whose myopic condition makes it necessary to hold the book very close. And so the outlook for the children is very promising. With conservation of vision classes, classes in hygiene, with school nurses and clinics, with medical inspection of schools, and with the public aroused as never before to its responsibility towards its boys and girls, we should have less need for oculists and schools for the blind, and fewer persons should be obliged to go through life deprived of the light, which was God's first gift to the world.
Before discussing the prevention of blindness in adults, I wish to say a few words concerning the attitude of oculists toward patients suffering from eye diseases which, in all probability, will result in loss of vision. If, for some special reason, the oculist fears it would be unwise to tell the patient that blindness is imminent, he should at least urge him to conserve his remaining vision, and advise him to do as many things as possible by touch, and warn him of the consequences of eyestrain. But, whenever possible, it is kinder to prepare the patient for oncoming blindness, so that he may shape his life accordingly, and may be induced to learn to read raised type, and use a writing device, before the light is entirely gone. Most of us exclaim over our trifling hurts, the mosquito bites of life, but when the real trial comes, when we know we must face a great crisis, we square our shoulders, take a long breath, and meet the inevitable with courage and fortitude. I wish the oculists could hear as I do the despairing cry of men and women who were led, until the very last, to hope for a restoration of eyesight, and then told that in their particular case, all usual remedies failed. Dr Daval, an eminent French oculist, who lost his eyesight at sixty, makes an eloquent plea to his colleagues to tell their patients the truth, and, instead of treating them when they know that loss of eyesight isinevitable, advise them to study methods used by the blind, even though they may not need to use the knowledge for months or even years.
There are a number of eye diseases that may be inherited, and those having such diseases should be told that they will transmit them to helpless, innocent children. The social evil is largely responsible for the infections of which ophthalmia neonatorum is only one result, but since this disease comes so often from a cause which is not generally discussed, it is particularly hard to combat. Forty per cent of existing blindness, and a vast amount of physical degeneracy, is the direct result of venereal causes.
Certain forms of glaucoma may be inherited, and children whose parents have had this disease should watch their own eyes very carefully, since, if taken in time, the progress of this disease, in certain forms, may be arrested. Persons who see rings around the lights should heed the danger signal and see an oculist.
Retinitis may also be inherited. I have known of three generations becoming blind from this cause.
Nearsightedness may also be inherited. I have known this condition of the eye to be present in four successive generations, and in the last generation, the young woman became totally blind from detached retina, due to excessive eyestrain while in school. If you could see my records, and count the number of cases where blindness is given as the result of straining nearsighted eyes, you would realize with me that progressive myopia should be classed as one of the preventable eye diseases, and a vigorous campaign waged against the marriage of persons so affected. Nearsighted people should be especially careful to avoid eyestrain, and should not work by artificial light. Bookkeepers, hotel clerks, and women who do fine sewing at night should be cautioned against such work, if they are myopic.
Optic atrophy is an eye disease very baffling to oculists, sapping the vision slowly but surely, as a rule, but occasionally destroying eyesight in a very short time. Electricians and those working in chemical laboratories are susceptible to optic atrophy.
A common cause of eyestrain is reading on street cars, or using the last, lingering bit of daylight to finish a chapter or complete some fine work. It is easier to turn on the light than to spend years in the dark.
The eyes of many people are ruined because, instead of going to an oculist to have their eyes properly fitted to glasses, they go into a ten-and-fifteen-cent store, try on a lot of cheap glasses, and purchase the ones that magnify the best, and feel most comfortable on the nose. The cheap varieties of glasses are often made from bits discarded by opticians, and never intended to be used again. People are not always careful in selecting eye shades, and often use those made of very inflammable materials, which frequently catch fire, and destroy the eyesight.
I can not understand how people can trifle with the most precious of their physical possessions, and yet my records teem with such instances, and the victims realize when too late how criminally thoughtless and careless they were. Some of our grown-up children need instructions as to the use and abuse of their eyes. In Los Angeles, I addressed the various Parent-Teacher Associations on these important subjects, and I believe that the note of warning sounded by one who is herself a victim of unnecessary blindness, went straight home to every heart.
The percentage of adult blindness is increasing at a very rapid rate, owing to the numerous accidents in factories and workshops, accidents that are, in many instances, preventable. Owners of factories, quarries, mines and other industrial plants have become alive to the necessity of safeguarding the eyes of their operatives, and much needed legislation is being enacted in all parts of the country. The National Council of Safety, an organization in existence but five years, has accomplished a great deal and this council co-operates with State Industrial Accident Commissions, and with civic and social organizations. The National Council of Safety estimates that there is one worker killed every 15 minutes, day and night, in the United States, and one injured every 15 seconds, day and night. This gives 30,000 killed and 2,000,000 injured, and of this number 200,000 are eye injuries. The National Committee for the Prevention of Blindness estimates that there are 100,000 blind in the United States, and half this number are needlessly so. Mr Will C. French of the State Industrial Accident Commission estimates that we have 1,000,000 employees in the state, and we have 300 industrial injuries daily, including Sundays. We thus have approximately 100,000 industrial accidents each year in this state. Since 1914, there were 23,451 eye injuries, and of these 549 were permanent injuries, and 11 resulted in total blindness. The medical and compensation costs of these eye injuries will be about $788,000. The 11 blind call for life pensions. The State Library home teachers are teaching 7 out of the 11 cases, and the Industrial Accident Commission is very glad to co-operate with us.
In California we have an average of 26 eye injuries each working day, and this number is likely to increase, especially in the shipbuilding industry, because of the chipping steel, use of emery wheels, and machinery in the construction of vessels. The State Accident Commission advocates goggles, one pair to each man. There are four kinds of goggles used. Those for the protection against flying material, for protection against intense heat and light, for protection against gases, fumes and liquids, and dust goggles. Masks are urged for welders and babbiters, and these masks are so strongly constructed that they not only fit the eye, but have shields at the sides of each lens to prevent the flying chips from entering the eyes from the sides. In most of the large plants there are committees of safety composed of employees, and they do much to reduce industrial accidents. Precautionary leaflets are circulated among the workmen, and attractive posters, printed in all languages, are used. Some of these are very effective. One shows a man saying "good-bye" to his wife and five little ones, and underneath is written, "How could they do without you?" One of the best known slogans, and one carrying conviction, is "You can see through glass goggles, but you can't see through glass eyes."
Many trades and occupations have their well-recognized types of injury. In the bottling works eyes are frequently lost through the impact of popping corks. The bursting of unprotected water gauges caused many cases of blindness yearly among engineers and machinists. In the grinding trades eyes are frequently lost by bits of flying emery becoming imbedded in the eyeball, and the Industrial Accident Commission recommends iron or glass guards for emery wheels. In factories, quarries and mines more serious damage is done by larger bits of metal or stone. Sometimes harm is done in an attempt to remove theforeign body from the eye, as the hands of the one performing this service may not be clean, or the instrument used may be the corner of a soiled handkerchief, a toothpick or match, or even, as sometimes happens, the tongue. More eyes are injured from infection than from the presence of foreign bodies, which, if properly and carefully removed, might result only in temporary inconvenience and the loss of a few days work. Workmen should not trust to the shop or factory doctor, but should go to the company doctor at once. Immediate and competent care should be secured without delay, and this will save eyes, and also save employers and insurance companies a great deal of money.
Lime-burn, solder-burn, and all the so-called dusty trades produce chronic inflammation of the eyes, which often results in total blindness. The National Council of Safety enumerates fifty-five industrial poisons, thirty-six of which affect the eyes. Absorption of drugs often causes blindness—tobacco, wood alcohol, lead, used in so many industries; bisulphide of carbon, used in making rubber; nitro-benzol, used in the manufacture of explosives, and some of the anilin dyes. Hoods and exhausts should be used to prevent the escape of dangerous fumes, vapors and gases. For men exposed to great heat, antisweat pencils have been manufactured, and when these are rubbed over the goggles, the glass will remain clear of steam for hours. Special eye coverings are designed for men working over acids, or in sand blasting. One of our pupils, a man past fifty, who had worked in a creamery for over twenty years, and who usually wore goggles when making tests with sulphuric acid, neglected to take the precautionary measure one morning, and some of the acid splashed up into his eyes. He is totally blind, and must begin life all over again. There have been so many cases of blindness as a result of dynamite explosions occurring in quarries and mines, that laws have been enacted for the protection of workmen. When a blast has been fired, and it is not certain that all the charges have exploded, no person is permitted to enter the place until forty-five minutes after the explosion. My records prove the great need for this precautionary measure, and I only wish it had been enforced years ago, before so many men in the prime of life had been deprived of eyesight, and of earning capacity as well.
Improper lighting and ventilating in factories, shops and stores, and work requiring excessive eyestrain, contributes to a long list of disabilities often resulting in total blindness. The passage, by our last Legislature, of the Common Towel Bill, prohibiting the use of roller towels anywhere in the state, has removed one of the most flagrant causes of infection, and one to which very little attention was paid by factory workers generally. I know one young man and two young women whose total blindness is the result of infection from the use of a roller towel.
I trust all these facts and figures may not prove wearisome, for it is necessary to know them if you are to realize the extent of the work being done here and elsewhere to prevent blindness and conserve vision. I have not mentioned all the activities of the State Industrial Accident Commission, or the National Council of Safety, but a visit to the Safety Museum, 525 Market street, San Francisco, or to the Union League Building, Los Angeles, will enlighten you further as to the progress of the Safety First movement, and convince you of the wisdom andhumanity of it. Let us adopt prevention and conservation as household words; let us do our share in spreading the gospel, and soon we shall have fewer blind babies, fewer children sitting on the side lines, and fewer men and women deprived of eyesight at the floodtide of life. This is another of my dreams, and this one is already coming true. "Let there be light!" was the first recorded utterance of the Most High God. "Let there be light!" has been the watchword on the lips of human progress during all the centuries that have gone, and they must be the battle-cry of Progress during all the centuries that are to come. I am sure we shall all be glad to do our share to preserve this light for our own and future generations.
FOOTNOTES[1]See illustration,p. 4.[2]Reprinted from News Notes of California Libraries, vol. 14, no. 1, Jan. 1919.
[1]See illustration,p. 4.
[1]See illustration,p. 4.
[2]Reprinted from News Notes of California Libraries, vol. 14, no. 1, Jan. 1919.
[2]Reprinted from News Notes of California Libraries, vol. 14, no. 1, Jan. 1919.