THE eye is the sense of the intellect. So said a great Frenchman, and Christ used it as His most solemn figure. "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." Both the natural and the spiritual eye have foes in these days.
Leading oculists met recently with the Illuminating Engineering Society—an unparalleled combination. One definite conclusion was reached, namely, that brilliant electric lights in direct vision are harmful, and that glare does not mean beneficial illumination. One of the engineers stated that the time is not far distant when dazzling lights so placed that they strike the eye directly will be prohibited by law. This speaker said: "You can sit in the depot in Boston, and the arrangement of arc lights will give you a headache in half an hour." Dr. Percy Fridenberg, President of the Harlem Medical Association, declared that the heat from incandescents used at desks has a harmful effect, drying the lids just the same as the heat from fire would do. He maintained that public buildings, hotels, and libraries are too brightly lighted. As much light as possible should be given, but the source should be concealed.
This, we think, is a most valuable suggestion. Dr. Hepburn, of the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital, declared that people11who live in countries where there are many cloudy and foggy days have stronger vision than those in bright and sunny countries. He testified that subdued light gives better results, and the yellow flame is better than the white. He affirmed that for that reason many people have gone back to gas jets and lamps. The lighting of that hall had been done especially for the oculists. The speakers' stand was without a single incandescent or other kind of light. The audience sat in the light from overhead, with no lamps in their line of vision. It was declared that merchants do not show their goods as well with unshielded arc lights and incandescents as when diffused light is cast from a hidden source.
All the oculists agreed that for students to keep a strong light on the page while the rest of the room is in darkness—a system used in many libraries, public and private
A Court in Pompeii, exhumed from the ashes of Vesuvius, which covered it in A.D. 79. About one-half of the city has now been excavated. Many works of art have been found. About 2,000 of its inhabitants perished. As light ashes covered the city, filling all empty spaces, it did little harm, practically sealing over the whole town, and preserving its contents.
—is injurious. The pupil has to be narrowed in reading and then when the eyes are lighted and meet the darkness the pupils must be suddenly enlarged.
This is a most important question to writers, readers, stenographers, telegraphers, bookkeepers, students, literary people, and all inclined to nervous headaches or suffering from any sort of eye strain.—The Christian Advocate.
