GREEN PAPER AS A REMEDY FOR MYOPIA.

Deterioration of eyesight, especially among students, has been an increasing topic of complaint not only in the United States, but in Europe. Mr. Samuel Yorke has an interesting article on the subject in a recent monthly. He says that in Germany, while the number of short-sighted children in the elementary classes is from five to eleven per cent, among the highest classes of the gymnasia it ranges from thirty-five to eighty-eight per cent and of the sid hundred theological students at Tubingen seventy-nine per cent are affected. The same is the case in England, France and the United States, and in all the best educated countries of the world. Furthermore, it is the opinion of eminent oculists that this disease is inherited, and that a near-sighted mother bears children with the same defect. This being the case, it can only be a matter of time to give us an educated world, every man and woman of which will be defective in sight. The cause of this great bane to humanity has been assigned to many things. Bad light, small types German text, light shining directly on the face, and the bad position of desks, have all had their supporters. Doubtless all of these may add to the trouble, but the chief cause is not among them. It is the color of the paper and the ink which we use. No one dissents from the opinion of Lord Bacon that the rays of the sun are reflected by a white body and absorbed by a black. But, despite these indications of nature and philosophy, we have all our reading matter in direct opposition to the suggestions of optical science. The human eye cannot long sustain the broad glare of a white surface without injury. People exposed for a long time to the glare of a sandy desert or a continuous stretch of snow are usually affected injuriously. The British soldiers in Egypt and Lieutenant Danenhower of the Jeannette expedition may be instanced as cases where the sight was impared from this cause.

For a remedy to the chief cause, the white paper and its contrasting black ink, Mr. Yorke suggests the use of green paper and colored inks. Nature and science declare that it should be green. It is the commonest color in nature and the most refreshing. It has an infinite variety of shades, and it is the softest color. It is the most permanently grateful, fatigues the eyes least, and is the color on which they will the longest and most willingly repose. Then, why should we not reform the abuse as the means lie so completely in our power? Let us have our books printed on green paper and use red or yellow ink. Such a change would be a general relief. It would take some time as the trade would be hostile at first, but the change is sure to come eventually, bringing relief to the student above all, and to every person who lives in a civilized country.