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Science Forum Index » Medicine - Vision Forum » The Menace of Large Print
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| Zetsu |
 Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 8:32 am |
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[...The Menace of Large Print
If you look at the big "C" on the Snellen test card (or any other
large letter of the same size) at ten, fifteen, or twenty feet, and
try to see it all alike, you may note a feeling of strain and the
letter may not appear perfectly black and distinct. If you now look at
only one part of the letter, and see the rest of it worse, you will
note that the part seen best appears blacker than the whole letter
when seen all alike, and you may also note a relief of strain. If you
look at the small "c" on the bottom line of the test card, you may be
able to note that it seems blacker than the big "C." If not, imagine
it as forming part of the area of the big "C." If you are able to see
this part blacker than the rest of the letter, the imagined letter
will, of course, appear blacker also. If your sight is normal, you may
now go a step further and note that when you look at one part of the
small "c" this part looks blacker than the whole letter, and that it
is easier to see the letter in this way than to see it all alike.
If you look at a line of the smaller letters that you can read
readily, and try to see them all alike - all equally black and equally
distinct in outline - you will probably find it to be impossible, and
the effort will produce discomfort and, perhaps, pain. You may,
however, succeed in seeing two or more of them alike. This, too, may
cause much discomfort, and if continued long enough, will produce
pain. If you now look at only the first Ietter of the line, seeing the
adjoining ones worse, the strain will at once be relieved, and the
letter will appear blacker and more distinct than when it was seen
equally well with the others.
If your sight is normal at the near-point, you can repeat these
experiments with a letter seen at this point, with the same results. A
number of letters seen equally well at one time will appear less black
and less distinct than a single letter seen best, and a large letter
will seem less black and distinct than a small one; while in the case
of both the large letter and the several letters seen all alike, a
feeling of strain may be produced in the eye. You may also be able to
note that the reading of very fine print, when it can be done
perfectly, is markedly restful to the eye.
The smaller the point of maximum vision, in short, the better the
sight, and the less the strain upon the eye. This fact can usually be
demonstrated in a few minutes by any one whose sight is not markedly
imperfect; and in view of some of our educational methods, is very
interesting and instructive.
Probably every man who has written a book upon the eye for the last
hundred years has issued a warning against fine print in school books,
and recommended particularly large print for small children. This
advice has been followed so assiduously that one could probably not
find a lesson book for small children anywhere printed in ordinary
reading type, while alphabets are often printed in characters one and
two inches high. The British Association for the Advancement of
Science does not wish to see children read books at all before they
are seven years old, and would conduct their education previous to
that age by means of large printed wall-sheets, blackboards, pictures,
and oral teaching. If they must read, however, it wants them to have
24- and 30-point type, with capitals about a quarter of an inch in
height. This is carefully graded down, a size smaller each year, until
at the age of twelve the children are permitted to have the same kind
of type as their elders. Bijou editions of Bible, prayer-book and
hymnals are forbidden, however, to children of all ages. [1]
In the London myope classes, which have become the model for many
others of the same kind, books are eliminated entirely, and only the
older children are allowed to print their lessons in one and two-inch
types. [2]
Yet it has just been shown that large print is a strain upon the eyes,
while the retinoscope demonstrates that a strain to see at the near-
point always produces hypermetropia [3] (commonly but erroneously
called "farsight"). We should naturally expect, therefore, to find
hypermetropia very common among small children; and it is. Of children
eight and a half years old in the public schools of Philadelphia,
Risley found [4] that more than eighty-eight per cent were
hypermetropic, and similar figures may be found in all statistics of
the subject. The percentage declines as the children become older, but
hypermetropia, or hypermetropic astigmatism, remains at all ages the
most common of all errors of refraction. Hypermetropia is, in fact, a
much more serious problem than myopia, or nearsight. Yet we have heard
very little about it, for the specialists have concluded, from its
prevalence and its tendency to pass away or become less pronounced
with the growth of the body, that it is the normal state of the
immature human eye and therefore beyond the reach of preventive
measures. It is true that many young children are not hypermetropic,
but this fact is easily disposed of by the theory that the ciliary
muscle alters the shape of the lens in such cases sufficiently to
compensate for the shortness of the eyeball.
The baselessness of this theory, as well as the relation of large
print to the production of hypermetropia, may be demonstrated by the
fact that the condition can be relieved, and has been relieved in
numerous cases, by the reading of fine print, combined with rest of
the eyes. A child of eight was cured in a few visits by this means.
Yet according to the British Association she should not, at this age,
have been allowed to read any type smaller than 12-point, with
capitals more than an eighth of an inch in height. Many grown people
have been cured of hypermetropia in the same way, and in all forms of
functional imperfect sight the reading of fine print, when it can be
done with comfort, has been found to be a benefit to the eyes. Even
straining to see fine print is sometimes a benefit in myopia.
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[1] Report on the Influence of School Books upon Eyesight, second
revised edition, 1913
[2] Pollock: The Education of the Semi-Blind, Glasgow Med. Jour.,
Dec., 1915
[3] Bates: The Cause of Myopia, N. Y. Med. Jour., March 10, 1912
[4] School Hygiene, in System of Diseases of the Eye, edited by Norris
and Oliver, vol. II, p. 353...]
- Dr. W. H. Bates, December 1919 |
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| Zetsu |
| Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 8:56 am |
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Why are the poor children in our schools being given very large type
to have to learn from, when it has been proven by demonstration that
this is an injury to the eye? Why are they being deprived of the
benefits to be gained to their eyesight, of the reading of fine
print?
I mean, it makes sense financially too. Imagine how much less ink and
space it will take up to print in small type! And children love little
things (nice tiny mini books) that they can hold in their hand and
carry around in their pocket! I do not see why such a simple and
rational (based on actual demonstration and experience) change has not
been implemented in the schools, and why an unfounded belief (which is
based on absolutely nill evidence, and silly superstitions of society)
that small print is the culprit of defective eyesight in children
still remains in domination.
I protest against it! (Takes his banners that read 'Large Print A
Menace to Our Children!' , goes public and starts protesting, yelling
at random strangers in despair). Seriously though, this is a strange
world. When you know something will stop a great deal of suffering,
and yet at the same time nothing has been done to take advantage of
this, why are you not making the logical change that any Government in
their right mind would do? I feel like ringing Gordon Brown up right
now and 'emptying the vials of my wrath' upon him. |
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| Mike Tyner |
| Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 1:38 pm |
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One of the many pitfalls of getting your science from 80-year-old
magazines...
-MT
"Zetsu" <absolutelyinvincible@hotmail.com> wrote
Quote: The baselessness of this theory, as well as the relation of large
print to the production of hypermetropia, may be demonstrated by the
fact that the condition can be relieved, and has been relieved in
numerous cases, by the reading of fine print, combined with rest of
the eyes. A child of eight was cured in a few visits by this means.
Yet according to the British Association she should not, at this age,
have been allowed to read any type smaller than 12-point, with
capitals more than an eighth of an inch in height. Many grown people
have been cured of hypermetropia in the same way, and in all forms of
functional imperfect sight the reading of fine print, when it can be
done with comfort, has been found to be a benefit to the eyes. Even
straining to see fine print is sometimes a benefit in myopia.
------------------------------
[1] Report on the Influence of School Books upon Eyesight, second
revised edition, 1913
[2] Pollock: The Education of the Semi-Blind, Glasgow Med. Jour.,
Dec., 1915
[3] Bates: The Cause of Myopia, N. Y. Med. Jour., March 10, 1912
[4] School Hygiene, in System of Diseases of the Eye, edited by Norris
and Oliver, vol. II, p. 353...]
- Dr. W. H. Bates, December 1919 |
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