Visual Education (Jan 1923-Dec 1924)

298 VISUAL EDUCATION September, 1924 Light, Sight and Safety "Faulty lighting and poor eyesight are today the major factors in one out of every eight accidents," says a recent report by the Eye Sight Conservative Council of America which is carrying on a nation-wide campaign for better vision in education and industry. Frequently also there are factors, having to do with the ability to see, which often are not apparent at the time and place of an accident but which have some bearing on the cause of an accident. In prehistoric times when the safety of both man and beast depended upon acuteness of vision, the only agent producing glare was the sun, but with the introduction of gas and electric illumination, the eye has been forced to contend with new perils. There is indisputable evidence that the momentary and temporary blindness caused by workmen having unshaded lamps close to their eyes is directly responsible for many industrial accidents. There is also evidence of accidents because of this same kind of blindness due to the glare from brightly polished material. These and other evils of illumination prevalent a decade ago were contributing factors in one out of every four accidents. During the intervening years there has been a decided improvement in the working conditions of industrial plants. The principal outward manifestation of this is the general toning up of the physical condition of shops and factories. Accompanying this there has been a gradual improvement in the illumination so as to correct faults of distribution and glare. Notwithstanding all this, there is still an appalling number of accidents every year and improper illumination and defective vision are today the major factors in one out of every eight accidents. Good vision was a prime requisite for the safety of the child in ancient times just as it is of the child of today, and in this respect the former had the greater advantage. For ages the sun, moon and stars were the only sources of light, supplemented at a later period by the open fire and wood torch. None of these are irritating to the eye except the sun, and it is so irritating that ordinary self-defense prevents one from staring at it. There were no glaring lights, no study in the modern sense, nor any form of human endeavor requiring close eye application such as characterizes present-day life. In due time nature developed the eve into an organ functioning best for distant vision and low brilliances, since those not so endowed fell by the wayside and became extinct. Man today, therefore, is naturally slightly hypermetropic or farsighted, but because of present day demands on the eye the majority of us have defective vision before reaching middle age. Influence of Modern Lighting ' There has been a gradually increasing demand on the eye during the period of recorded history, but it was with the introduction of gas and electricity as illuminating agents and their widespread use during the last half-century, that the strain on the eye showed an abrupt increase. We know that nature responds slowly to change of conditions. We cannot logically expect the eye developed for normal distant vision to adapt itself overnight or in a generation to the marked changes in demand. Instead, we have modern man afflicted with a variety of eye troubles that are detrimental to his health, earning power and safety. Much of this trouble has its starting point in the period between childhood and the end of the elementary school years. Defective Vision Among School Children Fairly comprehensive investigations have established the fact that fully sixty percent of our children