The eyesight of school children : being a record of the examination of over 3,000 school children / by W. B. Inglis Pollock.

  • Pollock, W. B. Inglis.
Date:
1906
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The eyesight of school children : being a record of the examination of over 3,000 school children / by W. B. Inglis Pollock. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by UCL Library Services. The original may be consulted at UCL (University College London)

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    near his work. When the desk is too high the child cannot raise his head far enough off the paper. From these requirements the following dimensions have been deduced. The height of the seat should correspond to the length of the leg below the knee, while the height of the desk should be such that the elbows just touch it when the arms are hanging by the sides. All seats must have backs because fatigue very soon brings on bad posture. There must be an arrangement for holding reading books at an inclination of 40, and the teacher should see that it is used. Most modern desks are made according to these regulations, but our school authorities still supply one size to each class room. There is frequently a difference of eight or twelve inches between the height of the tallest and the shortest children in a class, and even the best desk cannot be expected to suit such variations. The ideal system is to have single adjustable desks for each pupil and this is done in certain American schools. Some English schools on the other hand keep four standard sizes in each class room, and that appears to be the more economical system. Reading and Writing. All school books should be easily legible at a distance of 16 or 18 inches from the eyes. This allows the children to sit upright and yet to rest the books on the desks. Such a distance tends greatly to relieve eye-strain. It is probable that the print should be distinct at a slightly longer distance, so that upon dull days it may be legible at the sixteen inches. The school books of the present day are generally well printed, especially for the younger classes. The size of the type, the width between the lines, and the distance between the letters, are points to which attention has been paid. Some of the books for the highest classes are not quite so good. Mathematical, German, and Greek text-books should be particularly good, as they are more read by figures and letters and not syllables as in English books. Javal, an eminent Paris surgeon, pointed out that in reading our eyes follow a horizontal line just immediately under the tops of the letters. This can be confirmed by covering first the upper half of a line of print and then the lower half, and comparing the legibility, when it will be found that the print is more easily read in the latter case. I am sorry to say that the majority of parents allow their children to use bibles printed in small type. There is no reason why this should be the case, for well-printed bibles may be
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