into the eyes. Sometimes a rope was twisted round the victim's
head till the eyes started out of their sockets. In the middle ages the
punishment seems to have been changed from total blindness to a
permanent injury to the eyes, amounting, however, almost to blindness,
produced by holding a red-hot iron dish or basin before the face. Under
the forest laws of the Norman kings of England blinding was a common
penalty. Shakespeare makes King John order his nephew Arthur's eyes to
be burnt out.

BLINDMAN'S-BUFF (from an O. Fr. word, _buffe_, a blow, especially a blow
on the cheek), a game in which one player is blindfolded and made to
catch and identify one of the others, who in sport push him about and
"buffet" him.

BLINDNESS, the condition of being blind (a common Teutonic word), i.e.
devoid of sight (see also VISION; and EYE: _Diseases_). The data
furnished in various countries by the census of 1901 showed generally a
decrease in blindness, due to the progress in medical science, use of
antiseptics, better sanitation, control of infectious diseases, and
better protection in shops and factories. Blindness is much more common
in hot countries than in temperate and cold regions, but Finland and
Iceland are exceptions to the general rule.[1] In hot countries the eyes
are affected by the glaring sunlight, the dust and the dryness of the
air. From statistics in Italy, France and Belgium, localities on the
coast seem to have more blind persons than those at a distance from the
sea.

The following table gives the number of blind persons as reported in the
census of each country. Unless otherwise stated, it refers to the
statistics of 1900.

+----------------------------------+--------+----------------+
| | Total | Number |
| Country. | Number.| per Million |
| | | of Population. |
+----------------------------------+--------+----------------+
| Austria | 14,582 | 540 |
| Belgium | 3448 | 487 |
| Canada | 3279 | 610 |
| Denmark | 1047 | 427 |
| England | 25,317 | 778 |
| France | 27,174 | 698 |
| Finland[2] | 3229 | 1191 |
|