Five Lectures on Blindness

by Kate M. Foley

There are a number of eye diseases that may be inherited, and those having such diseases should be told that they will transmit them to helpless, innocent children. The social evil is largely responsible for the infections of which ophthalmia neonatorum is only one result, but since this disease comes so often from a cause which is not generally discussed, it is particularly hard to combat. Forty per cent of existing blindness, and a vast amount of physical degeneracy, is the direct result of venereal causes.

Certain forms of glaucoma may be inherited, and children whose parents have had this disease should watch their own eyes very carefully, since, if taken in time, the progress of this disease, in certain forms, may be arrested. Persons who see rings around the lights should heed the danger signal and see an oculist.

Retinitis may also be inherited. I have known of three generations becoming blind from this cause.

Nearsightedness may also be inherited. I have known this condition of the eye to be present in four successive generations, and in the last generation, the young woman became totally blind from detached retina, due to excessive eyestrain while in school. If you could see my records, and count the number of cases where blindness is given as the result of straining nearsighted eyes, you would realize with me that progressive myopia should be classed as one of the preventable eye diseases, and a vigorous campaign waged against the marriage of persons so affected. Nearsighted people should be especially careful to avoid eyestrain, and should not work by artificial light. Bookkeepers, hotel clerks, and women who do fine sewing at night should be cautioned against such work, if they are myopic.

Optic atrophy is an eye disease very baffling to oculists, sapping the vision slowly but surely, as a rule, but occasionally destroying eyesight in a very short time. Electricians and those working in chemical laboratories are susceptible to optic atrophy.

A common cause of eyestrain is reading on street cars, or using the last, lingering bit of daylight to finish a chapter or complete some fine work. It is easier to turn on the light than to spend years in the dark.

The eyes of many people are ruined because, instead of going to an oculist to have their eyes properly fitted to glasses, they go into a ten-and-fifteen-cent store, try on a lot of cheap glasses, and purchase the ones that magnify the best, and feel most comfortable on the nose. The cheap varieties of glasses are often made from bits discarded by opticians, and never intended to be used again. People are not always careful in selecting eye shades, and often use those made of very inflammable materials, which frequently catch fire, and destroy the eyesight.

I can not understand how people can trifle with the most precious of their physical possessions, and yet my records teem with such instances, and the victims realize when too late how criminally thoughtless and careless they were. Some of our grown-up children need instructions as to the use and abuse of their eyes. In Los Angeles, I addressed the various Parent-Teacher Associations on these important subjects, and I believe that the note of warning sounded by one who is herself a victim of unnecessary blindness, went straight home to every heart.

The percentage of adult blindness is increasing at a very rapid rate, owing to the numerous accidents in factories and workshops, accidents that are, in many instances, preventable. Owners of factories, quarries, mines and other industrial plants have become alive to the necessity of safeguarding the eyes of their operatives, and much needed legislation is being enacted in all parts of the country. The National Council of Safety, an organization in existence but five years, has accomplished a great deal and this council co-operates with State Industrial Accident Commissions, and with civic and social organizations. The National Council of Safety estimates that there is one worker killed every 15 minutes, day and night, in the United States, and one injured every 15 seconds, day and night. This gives 30,000 killed and 2,000,000 injured, and of this number 200,000 are eye injuries. The National Committee for the Prevention of Blindness estimates that there are 100,000 blind in the United States, and half this number are needlessly so. Mr Will C. French of the State Industrial Accident Commission estimates that we have 1,000,000 employees in the state, and we have 300 industrial injuries daily, including Sundays. We thus have approximately 100,000 industrial accidents each year in this state. Since 1914, there were 23,451 eye injuries, and of these 549 were permanent injuries, and 11 resulted in total blindness. The medical and compensation costs of these eye injuries will be about $788,000. The 11 blind call for life pensions. The State Library home teachers are teaching 7 out of the 11 cases, and the Industrial Accident Commission is very glad to co-operate with us.

In California we have an average of 26 eye injuries each working day, and this number is likely to increase, especially in the shipbuilding industry, because of the chipping steel, use of emery wheels, and machinery in the construction of vessels. The State Accident Commission advocates goggles, one pair to each man. There are four kinds of goggles used. Those for the protection against flying material, for protection against intense heat and light, for protection against gases, fumes and liquids, and dust goggles. Masks are urged for welders and babbiters, and these masks are so strongly constructed that they not only fit the eye, but have shields at the sides of each lens to prevent the flying chips from entering the eyes from the sides. In most of the large plants there are committees of safety composed of employees, and they do much to reduce industrial accidents. Precautionary leaflets are circulated among the workmen, and attractive posters, printed in all languages, are used. Some of these are very effective. One shows a man saying "good-bye" to his wife and five little ones, and underneath is written, "How could they do without you?" One of the best known slogans, and one carrying conviction, is "You can see through glass goggles, but you can't see through glass eyes."