E TRAINING OF THE SENSE OF SIGHT.

A recent French writer on the hygiene of the sight has brought forward
striking evidence in support of his statement, that in our time the
sense of sight is growing markedly weaker. The number of the
near-sighted is augmenting, as is also the number of those who become
'far-sighted' before old age. Cases of debility and disease of the eyes
seem to be multiplying at a rate which should awaken general attention
to this matter. The causes are to be found in the neglect, often the
hurtful management, of the eyesight of children; in the influence of
improperly regulating artificial light; and in the injury done by bad
printer's ink and paper.

In the education of the child's eyesight, _acuteness_ of vision is one
of the first objects to be sought for. That this is largely a matter of
training is apparent from the fact that persons in certain professions
can readily distinguish objects too small or too distant for ordinary
eyes. Children brought up in the country or at the sea-side, have a
power of vision unknown to city children, with their limited range of
observation. But it is not only necessary that the eyes should be able
to make out the forms of distant or small objects, but that they should
be quick to detect shades of color and delicacies of outline. The child
should be stimulated and encouraged to make efforts in this direction.
Here, also, there is room for the skill of the intelligent toy-maker,
for toys can be made very useful educators.

One of the forms of sensorial _memory_ which it is most desirable to
develope is that of objects seen, that is to say, the fixing in the
thoughts, to be brought up before the mind's eye when wanted, the
recollection of visual impressions. This embraces the memory of forms,
of dimensions, of the relations between various objects and between
different parts of the same object, and of colors. When applied to
places it is what is known as _local_ memory, applied to the human face,
it is the memory of _physiognomy_; applied to objects, it is _graphic_
or _descriptive_ memory; applied to colors, it is _chromatic_ memory.

_Local_ memory is sometimes developed to an extraordinary degree. It is
only necessary for some persons to have once traversed a locality, a
street, a city, in order to preserve of it a most minute and vivid
recollection. This topographical memory is enjoyed by a number of the
inferior animals; the elephant, the dog, and the hors