92 A. STRADLING AJS^NIVEKSARY ADDRESS : 



and towers. The child, on the other hand, saw nothing and heeded 

 nothing but the flowers and shrubs in the immediate vicinity — 

 he was capable of perceiving all the rest when his attention was 

 especially directed to it, and it aroused equal wonder in him, but 

 he at once reverted to neighbouring objects when left to himself. 



The first colour which a child recognizes is invariably red, and 

 childi'en are singularly attracted by anything of a golden hue 

 or sheen ; babies just able to crawl will stretch out their hands 

 towards gilt balls in the midst of other objects equally bright, 

 and will pick out gold coins from amongst silver or any others — 

 a pretlilection which certainly persists into later life with the 

 majority of our species. At the age of ten the colour of the eyes 

 is fixed ; and it is said that blue-eyed people are never colour- 

 blind. We probably see more colours than the rest of the higher 

 animals ; at any rate, apes seem to be colour-blind. 



That human sight is deteriorating, our childi'en afford most 

 melancholy proof. I have been told on very competent authority 

 that the reason why the stereoscope has fallen so much into disuse 

 is because few people now can see with both eyes alike. !N'ever- 

 theless, it is pleasant to know that total blindness is steadily 

 diminishing. In the year 1871, the proportion of blind folks per 

 million of the whole population of England and Wales was 951 ; 

 in 1881 it was 879 ; and ten years later still, it had fallen to 809, 

 This decrease is no doubt largely due to the improvement in 

 remedial appliances and operations which have been devised by 

 oculists in the last quarter of a century ; I think those medical 

 men who are present will agree with me when I say that the 

 progress of ophthalmic surgery during recent years offers the most 

 satisfactoiy aspect of our profession. There is one little operation 

 known as iridectomy, the object of which is to restore the pupil 

 when it has been obliterated by inflammation, concerning which 

 it is said that it has actually exercised an appreciable effect on 

 the poor-rates of every civilized country in the world ! Young 

 and able-bodied people who had become blind from inflammation 

 of the iris were formerly regarded as incurably so, ami had in 

 consequence to be maintained by the state, the parish, or charity 

 for the remainder of their natural lives, or had to take up occupa- 

 tions for which the power of sight can be dispensed with, such 

 as basket-making. Now, by a snip of the scissors the blessing 

 of sight can be restored to man\', enabling them to set to work and 

 earn their bread. The number of the totally blind in England 

 and Wales was returned at the last general census, that of 1891, 

 at 23,467. Amongst these the male sex predominated greatly up 



