Is the human eye changing its form under the influence of modern education? / Edward G. Loring.
- Loring, Edward G. (Edward Greeley), 1837-1888
- Date:
- 1878
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Is the human eye changing its form under the influence of modern education? / Edward G. Loring. 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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![cannot help believing, in my own mind, that it is due lar<)(;l to, and is in proportion to the perfection of the organ. From wliat has been stated hitherto, that is, from want (( evidence in favor of hereditary influence, by direct transmission on the optical condition of the eye-; from the very perfectia of the normal standard as it now exists, and the strong tendenc( to revert to such a standard in case of accidental modification I should conclude that hereditary influence alone could never, i this late date, so increase the amount of myopia as to chang the existing standard, or normal eye, to a near-sighted eyt By this I mean that the comparatively few and sporadic cas* of near-sightedness, brought about by fortuitous circumstancesj^ would rapidly become extinct, through hereditary influence, ti intermixture with a greater number of normal eyes. Or, to pn u this a little differently, 1 believe that the tendency to revert t a far-seeing standard, perfected in the remote past, and mail D( tained probably for cycles of time, would outweigh the tei ^ dency to propagate a myopic vaiiation unless a marked change ,r in the conditions of existence —a potent factor in theprodm ^ tion of variations — had also taken place — a change whici should be brought to bear not only on a few individuals, but oj > the great masses of a community, and not only on one sex, but oj j hoth sexes alike. And it seems to me that we have no farth© to look for such a change in conditions than to the fac< of modern devotion to literary pursuits, and especially fci that phase of it known as Compulsory Education, a facto* of modern origin, of great force, and of an exceedingly rapji growth. This brings us to a consideration of the second part of oui inquiry—the effect of prolonged tension and overuse of t^i eyes. Over fifty years ago. Ware, the famous English oculist, cal]e< attention to the fact, that myopia was more prevalent amon|i the inhabitants of cities and towns, or among those wiio applie their eyes upon smaller objects at shorter distances, than it w among the inhabitants of the country, where the application oi the eyes was less, the objects greater, and a greater distancoi Moreover he showed, that the near-sightedness, both in fn](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21633307_0010.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
