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
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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![[From the Proceedings of the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow.] The Eyesight of School Children : being a record of the examination of over 3,000 school children. By W. B. Inglis Pollock, M.D. During the last few years there has been a very considerable increase of interest in the subject of school hygiene. We owe this in a great degree to the question of the physical degeneration of the race, which has been discussed in all manner of societies and periodicals. The Royal Commission on Physical Education in Scotland found itself forced to discover not only the conditions which favoured, but also those which hindered physical culture, and, as a consequence, was led to recommend the medical inspection of school children. It is unnecessary to lay stress on the importance of good eye- sight in all the manifold and varied occupations of life, nor to discuss the handicap which is placed on those who are afflicted with any weakness of vision. The number of occupations is steadily increasing in which a preliminary test of the vision is necessary before the candidate proceeds to his or her training. I have examined in the course of the last eight months, by per- mission of the Rev. Dr. Smith and the members of the Govan School Board, the eyesight of all the pupils in three schools of the Govan School Board, viz., Elder Park, Church Street, and Hillhead High School. The two former are primary schools, while the last contains in addition a large secondary department. There are among its pupils a few French, German, Norwegian, Spanish, and Jewish scholars, but they are insufficient in numbers for a comparison with the native children. The name, age, and standard of each child was noted. The acuteness of vision of each eye was investigated separately by means of Snellen's Test-types, and if glasses were worn it was again taken with the spectacles on. A test-type in which well- known objects replace the letters of the alphabet was used for young children. The types were illuminated by artificial light. The colour of the iris, the condition of the eyelids, the front of [Read before the Society, 13th December, 1905.]](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21646995_0007.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
