Rensselaer Republican, Volume 16, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 August 1884 — The Fancied Need of Eye-Glasses. [ARTICLE]

The Fancied Need of Eye-Glasses.

“Wearing glasses seems to be considered fashionable by a great many people and every day persons whose eyes are perfectly good come after something to stick in their eyes,” says a Philadelphia dealer. “They are generally dudes and we sell them these large glasses. They are made of the finest imported glass, but have no refracting power and are perfectly harmless. You see, they have no frame and are only meant to be held to the eye or stuck in for a few moments. This is supposed to be an English custom and you can see young Anglo-maniacs any day on Chesnut street wearing them. One lady bought a dozen the other day. I can’t imagine what for. It takes some practice to carry them withput letting them drop and they never can be considered graceful. “The wearing of glasses and spectacles is becoming commoner. I don’t think this is because there are more ■weak eyes, but because every year we know more about the eye and are now able to make lenses for many cases that we didn’t understand before. Astigmatism, presbyopia, strabismus, diplopia, and the other diseases or defects of eyesight are now generally capable of remedy by different kinds of glasses, and this probably accounts for their greater use. Then there are always lots of people who imagine something the matter with their eyes and insist on wearing glasses or spectacles. Four or five such come in every day and are vexed if we say that their eyesight is all right. If we can’t persuade them out of their idea we sell them lenses that will do as little injury as possible and such as many persons use in reading. Xhe number of these cranks is astonishing. They come to be tried for -up; o;ed color-blindness, hypermetropia.or oversight, and' every thing they can think of. A genuine trouble of the eye, however, and one of very recent origin, is that caused by the. glare of the electric lights. To a verysensitive retina this is intolerable, and some protection is necessary. For this we use smoked glasses and tire demand for them is gerfectly surprising. In New York thousands of gross of these are sold every year. The linemen, who adjust the arcs of the electric lights, add, of course:, need very strong glasses, wear oblong pieces of blue glass fastened together, two for each aye. and capable of shielding them from the terrible brilliancy. Even with these their eyes are often injured. PhiZfljde/jO/n'fl Tinies. Par excellence good father I . — The fudge.