March i, 1913 
FOREST AND STREAM 
275 
Forest and Stream is the official organ of the National Archery Association. 
Keep That Left Eye Open. 
BY E. J. RENDTORFF. 
At a meeting of archers, held in Chicago 
during the holidays, the statement was made 
that at the Boston tournament fully half the 
contestants shot with the left eye closed. As 
this method is radically wrong, I wish to bring 
it to the attention of our fraternity, though I 
must confess that the explanation of the reason 
is difficult to present. In order to make the 
matter clear, permit me to quote a little of the 
physics pertaining to vision. 
A single eye sees most distinctly any point 
situated on its optical axis and less distinctly 
other points toward which it is not directly 
looking, but which are still within its circle of 
vision. It is able to judge the direction of any 
such point, but unable by itself to determine its 
distance. From the actual size of the retinal 
image, determined by sensation, we may infer 
the angle which the object subtends; i. e., its 
apparent size. But this angle is a function not 
only of the real size, but .also of the distance. 
All objects subtend the same angle if the ratio 
of size to distance is constant. In order to 
form a judgment of the real size of an object, 
its distance must be known or assumed. The 
perception of distance of the single eye is very 
imperfect, as is seen if we attempt to thread 
a needle with one eye closed, or try to pass the 
end of a rod bent at right angles through a ring- 
placed at arm’s length. Hence, our judgment 
being at the mercy of two variables, is fre¬ 
quently unreliable. The moon, for example, ap¬ 
pears larger in the horizon than in the zenith, 
evidently because we assume unconsciously a 
shorter distance for it in the former case. So, 
in the opinion of different individuals, the moon 
varies in size from a dime to an archer’s target, 
according to the ideas previously formed of its 
distance compared with that at which these ob¬ 
jects are generally viewed. A fly moving close 
to the eye may, through an error of judgment 
as to distance, be mistaken for an eagle soaring 
amid the clouds. 
The perception of distance is greatly facili¬ 
tated by the use of both eyes. The means of 
estimating distance possessed by a single eye 
is that due to the muscular sense in producing 
the necessary accommodation, though it may, 
indeed, learn to judge by such criteria as loss 
of color, indistinctness of outline, decrease in 
magnitude, etc., but if the object is near, the 
single eye is not infallible even with these aids. 
With two eyes their axes are made to con¬ 
verge upon the object, this convergence being 
greater as the object is nearer. By this action 
the images in the two eyes fall on correspond¬ 
ing points of the retina, so that we perceive one 
and not two images. The muscular effort re¬ 
quired to produce the necessary convergence, by 
the motion of the eyes themselves, is the basis 
upon which our estimate of distance rests. The 
judgment founded on the muscular sense is of 
course a matter of education. The delicacy of 
the appreciation of distance appears in our esti¬ 
mation of solidity. When the two eyes are 
directed upon a single point, we gain the power 
of judging its distance as compared with that 
of any other point. This is necessarily unattain¬ 
able in monocular vision. 
If both eyes were equally strong, two pro¬ 
jections of the pile of our arrow would be seen 
on the ground near our point of aim. The 
right eye is, however, invariably the command- 
HOMER W. BISHOP. 
ing eye, so that the projection on the right, due 
to the left eye, is either indistinct or totally miss¬ 
ing. With one eye only, we have great difficulty 
in judging distance, while with both eyes open 
the binocular vision colnes to our aid. It is 
true that with the right eye only we get a bet¬ 
ter, more sharply defined projection of the pile 
on our point of aim, but we cannot in this case 
judge the proper length of draw of the arrows, 
or the location of the point of aim, as well as 
when both eyes are open. At all distances, and 
especially at the longer ones, the proper uniform 
length of draw is of prime importance. When 
the point of aim is not sharp and distinct, as 
it seldom is, but rather an uncertain area, the 
judgment of distance is of greater importance 
than a sharp bead on a point that we arbitrarily 
assume to be the proper point of aim, but which 
in reality is only our estimate of the correct 
spot. 
Let us summarize what is gained by each 
method: 
Left Eye Closed—A sharper, better defined 
image of the pile of the arrow and a sharper 
bead on an assumed point of aim whose real 
position cannot accurately be estimated without 
binocular vision. 
Both Eyes Open—A better judgment of dis¬ 
tance, applied as follows: First, a more definite 
estimate of the actual position of the point of 
aim, which with a vague indefinite “point” ap¬ 
proaching an area, must be determined separately 
for each single shot; second, a more perfect 
knowledge of the proper length of draw, with¬ 
out which a sharp bead on a fi.xed unalterable 
point of aim is useless. 
The only advantage gained by closing the 
left eye is thus more apparent than real. Ac¬ 
cording to theory an archer shooting with the 
left eye closed would become progressively 
poorer as he approached the longer distances. 
Therefore, keep the left eye open. 
Pittsburgh Archery. 
Pittsburgh, Pa., Feb. 24.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: The afternoon of Feb. 22, although 
very windy, was so fine that three of the Bon 
Air archers shot on their range. 
Team round, 96 arrows, 60yds.; 
W. T- Holmes . 
81 
327 
Jas. S. Giles . 
82 
334 
0. L. Hertig. 
American round: 
60yds. 
50yds. 
40yds. 
92 
464 
Total. 
W. J. Holmes . 
..25 99 
29 159 
29 173 
83 421 
las. S. Tiles. 
.. 26 102 
28 154 
30 176 
84 432 
0. L. Hertig. 
.. 30 162 
29 151 
30 206 
89 519 
As usual the writer spoiled what would have 
been a good score by shooting poorly at 50 yards. 
The Bon Air-Beechview team, composed of 
James S. Jiles, D. H. Wolf, W. J. Holmes and 
0. L. Hertig, have arranged for a team match 
on Decoration Day, shooting against J. C. Patch, 
L. B. Fleming, G. W. Postgate and W. H. 
Haines, who constitute the Schenley-Bellefield 
team. Mr. Jiles has made a fine bow of moun¬ 
tain ash backed with second growth hickory, 
which at the gentle insistence of an overpower¬ 
ing majority he is going to offer as a prize for 
high score. 0. L. Hertig. 
Winter Archery in Chicago. 
Chicago, Ill., Feb. 17. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: Yesterday our weather conditions were; 
Temperature, 31 degrees; wind, north, fifteen 
miles an hour; clear sky; ground frozen. 
Two archers went to the range, and ]\Ir. 
Pendry reports the following scores made by 
Homer W. Bishop. 
Team round— 
23 123 23 139 24 12G 24 134 94 522 
American round— 
28 168 30 196 30 218 88 582 
Forty-eipht arrows at 80yds.— 
35 179 
This was a good deal of work for one who 
has done no shooting for six weeks, and under 
the conditions the scores are wonderfully fine. 
Edward B. Weston. 
