nsciously avoids looking directly at it. These conditions are
responsible to an extent for man's indifference and even ignorance of
the rudiments of safe lighting. When he has artificial light, over which
he may exercise control, he either ignores it or owing to the less
striking glare he misuses it and his eyesight without realizing it. A
great deal of eye-strain and permanent eye trouble arises from the abuse
of the eyes by improper lighting. For example, near-sightedness is often
due to inadequate illumination, which makes it necessary for the eyes to
be near the work or the reading-page. Improper or inadequate lighting
especially influences eyes that are immature in growth and in function,
and it has been shown that with improvements in lighting the percentage
of short-sightedness has decreased in the schools. Furthermore, it has
been shown that where no particular attention has been given to lighting
and vision, the percentage of short-sightedness has increased with the
grade. There are twenty million school children in this country whose
future eyesight is in the hands of those who have jurisdiction over
lighting and vision. There are more than a hundred million persons in
this country whose eyes are daily subjected to improper
lighting-conditions, either through their own indifference or through
the negligence of others.

Of a certain group of 91,000 purely industrial accidents in the year
1910, Mr. Simpson has stated that 23.8 per cent. were due, directly or
indirectly, to the lack of proper illumination. These may be further
divided into two approximately equal groups, one of which comprises the
accidents due to inadequate illumination and the other to those toward
which improper lighting was a contributing cause. The seasonal variation
of these accidents is given in the following table, both for those due
directly or indirectly to inadequate and improper lighting and those due
to other causes.

SEASONAL DISTRIBUTION OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS DUE TO LIGHTING
CONDITIONS AND TO OTHER CAUSES

Percentage due to
Lighting conditions Other causes

July 4.8 5.9
August 5.2 6.2
September 6.1 6.9
October 8.6 8.5
November 10.9 10.5
December 15.6 12.2
January