28 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [VoL. 1. 



demned the desks used by the junior classes as hurtful to the eyes and 

 spine. With these exceptions, he believed the hygienic surroundings of 

 the children to be exceptionally good, and pointed to the very low per 

 centage of short sight, only 4 per cent., in proof of his contention. He 

 thought that the School Board was to be congratulated, and that small as 

 was the proportion of defect it might still further be diminished by 

 abolishing the ground glass windows, the desk-seats of the junior classes, 

 and the exercise of more care in placing the desks with regard to light. 

 The proportion of defect found in Philadelphia in a similar exanr:ination 

 was 4'27 per cent. In Germany it varied from lO'g to 80 per cent. Two 

 thousand seven hundred and twenty-six boys were examined for color- 

 blindness ; 84 were found more or less color-blind — about 3 per cent. Of 

 1,671 girls, II were color-blind — about 8'6 per cent. In two schools 

 over 5 percent, of color-blindness was found — in one as low as i'6 per 

 cent. 



Mr. Macdougall called attention to the abominably printed school 

 books. He thought they had as much to do with causing a strain on the 

 children's eyes as anything. He referred to the large per centage of 

 myopia in Lansdowne and Elizabeth street schools. He thought that 

 the dwellings of the children would likely have an effect in producing it. 



Mr, Clark had been always opposed to the use of ground glass. Clear 

 glass could be put in much cheaper. As to the large per centage of 

 myopia in Elizabeth Street School and Queen Victoria School, he wished 

 some further information as to the cause. He did not think that the 

 print of the school books was nearly so bad as that of the daily papers. 



Mr. Browning wished to ask whether any relation was found between 

 myopia and color-blindness. 



The President was struck with the fact in the statistics that when the 

 per centage of short-sightedness was large that of long-sightedness was 

 also large. 



Mr. Chamberlain referred to the remarkable contrast between the 

 Indians of the settlements and those in the reservations in regard to long- 

 sightedness. 



Mr. Macdougall asked, in reference to the large per centage of short- 

 sightedness in Norway and Sweden, 66 per cent., was it not owing to the 

 glare of the snow .-' 



Dr. Ryerson : As to the connection between short-sightedness and 

 color-blindness, he had not found any cases where they coincided. The 

 long-sightedness of the Indians and also of the inhabitants of Switzer- 



