NEAR SIGHTEDNESS IN SCHOOL CHILDREN. 599 



or read their lessons from slate or paper. And in the more advanced classes 

 — in the high school department — the rule, so far as I could see and com- 

 prehend it, was to send one pupil only to* the board at the same time, while 

 the others figured on slates or paper, as directed by the teacher. So many 

 boys and girls wore glasses in their classes that verily I thought it a fash- 

 ionable indication of respectability. 



Summing up the results of the blackboard work in the schools of this 

 class, it is forcibly expressed in legul pai'lance, thus : "Brains versus Chalk." 

 But the proper form, however, is: "Brains and Chalk make the successful 

 school teacher," and this emphaticallj- embodies the kernel of truth upon 

 which all teaching depends. 



Owing to the limitations thus imposed upon school work the pupils are 

 forced to work at a great disadvantage, the same muscles of the eyes for 

 hours are kept in a constant tension, and the exercises arc not varied to give 

 relief or to counterbalance the undue strain. There is a path of safety and 

 lies in the direction of variety. The board must be used more frequently. 

 The pupils must put aside their books whenever practicable, work at the 

 board, and during explanations scan the exercises on the board across the 

 room. Calisihenic exercises in looking at distant objects will, in a few 

 years, be a daily drill. By introducing variety in work and exercise the 

 pupils' eyes will be injured but little. 



Near sight is seldom found after sixteen or eighteen years of age, hence 

 it is confined chiefly to those who have been students from early life. Seam- 

 stresses, watch makers, lawyers, engravers, &c., show a small per cent, com- 

 pared to the studious. Their eyes were not distorted in early life, hence 

 their freedom from it in old age. According to the theory now advanced 

 there would be less near sight in new countries than in old; less in smaller 

 cities than in large ones ; less in prairie countries than in timbered; less 

 in those who exercise their e3^esight on distant objects than those who do 

 not, and coming down to Kansas City, less in Lincoln, Woodland and Morse 

 schools than in the other schools ; loss in proportion to the school popula- 

 tion here than in St. Louis, Chicago and New York. 



The report of the colored schools confirms th;s view. The range of vis- 

 ion of those children had not been shut in. They have inherited no flabbi- 

 ness of tissues as in the case of the less fortunate white children, and besides 

 the negroes have enormous curiosity which they seek to gratify at all 

 ranges; and further, the occupations of this race have not beea such as to 

 superinduce the disease. 



In conclusion, I would suggest the propriety of having medical experts 

 examine and report on the schools of the city. 



There are certain reasons why such a report would be desirable. In the 

 first place, it would give data for solving the educational problem, and since 

 the schools of Kansas City do more blackboard work than any other city in 

 proportion to the enrollment, that would be a new factor, and third, it would 

 prove or disprove the predictions in this paper. 



