280 



ni;i'()iu"— 18SJ, 



111^ 



Or.-;i;uvATioN.-< ox tiii; 



I.OOU M ALIOS 



were devised as a iiiiiiiiiiuin test,' bat as a maxinmm test they arc visible 

 (theoretically) at a distance of .")7 feet, and owing to this great range arc 

 not Avell adapted for testing the sight of persons living in towns, where 

 hirge well-lighted rooms, suitable for making the examinations, are 

 ditVicult to lind. Instead, therefoie, oF using the whole of the returns 

 sent in, one thousand observations, which are known to have been taken 

 under the proper condition;; o^' -pace and illumination, are made use of, 

 with tho following results : — 



KVi:spWIT MADE WITH TMi; Ar.MV 'I'KST-nOTS ON- 



oi' Tin; AoES ruoii 15 to 6.') V'kaus, 



TliL'urct icnl (lis'.'ini'c ;it wliirli tlic dot-' aro visible 



JAy/// or most lii'i|iit'iit di.siiiiict; ouscivcil . , . . 



yl^vvY///'' <^'^taiR'o ot total iimiibor .. .... 



,, at jiycs 111 twccn I ."> and 40 years obsci'ved 



.^ .. 10 „ (;.■) ■ „ „ . 



„ (if total cmiiitiy population observcil 



,, ,, M li.wii ,, „ . . 



The aerreement between the calculated and the hira,i observed distan/o 

 shows that the cxaniinations were made under the jiroper conditions 

 of space and light. The afeniije shows a deficiency of eyesight, which, 

 Avhen distributed over the whole number of per.soiis examinod, reduces 

 the distance to r)U'2 feet, or T'-l feet {]±7 per cent.) below the normal 

 standard. The deficiency of sight below the age of 40 years is 6'7 feet 

 (irr per cent.), and above that ago 10 8 feet (18'8 per cent.), showing 

 that it is largely due to the natui-al degeneracy of tho sight from 

 advancing age. The average sight of the country pojjulatiou is a little 

 better than that of towns, but this may be attributable in some measure 

 to the more favourable conditiims under which the examinations were 

 made; the difFerenco is about '1 feet in I'avour of country folks. It is 

 diflicnlt to draw the lino between good and imperfect eyesight, bnt 

 considerable practice with the Army test-dots shows that a ])Crson who 

 can distinguish tiiem at a distance of 30 feet (or half their theoretical 

 distance) has good sight : and all below it may be said to have imperfect 

 sight. Up to 80 feet 10'8 per cent, of the persons examined failed to 

 distinguish the test-dots, and at 15 feet, the distance fixed by the Army 

 regulations for the exclusion of recruits for imperfect eyesight, barely 

 1 per cent, failed to distinguish the test-dots. The failures up to v.") feet 

 were at the rate of r.t-3 per cent., and up to 40 feet -G-J yvv ecu 



To ascertain the influence of school-life on the eyesight of boys, 

 about 3,000 observations, nuide with Snellen's types, No. 1 and 

 No. 10, by the Rev. T. A. Preston, ab Marlborough College,- have been 

 examined with the following risults. The statistics arc valuable as 



' Each test -dot is oiKvliftli of an iucli sciuare, and corresponrls at a distance of 

 I .") foot with the IjiiU's-eyi of a target two feut sq\iare at (iOO yards distance. A recruit 

 who cannot ck^arly distinguish the dots at a distance of 15 feet is deemed unlit for 

 military sirvice. 



- Tliese obsi'ivations were made with the book of tests for The J)cf,'ctii>)i I'f 

 (hloiir IHuidnritu and I m jxrfrrt Eiictni]ht, prejiared by Jlr. ('. Roberts for t lie Com- 

 niittee, and tlii'y retleet the greatest credit on tho skill and ]ierseverance of Mr. 

 I'reston. Not only are the observations of great value to science in the aggregate, 

 but each boy was benefited by being informed of the condition of his eyesiglit. 

 The first edition of the book of tesl.s having been sold out, a second cditic.n, with 

 some important alterations which practice las shown to be necessary or desiraliU', 

 has been issued by Messrs. J. and A. Churchill, of New I'urlington Street, ^V. 



