William Horatio Bates

“ It has been repeatedly demonstrated that a letter or other object cannot be remembered or even imagined perfectly and continuously, unless one can imagine it to be moving or swinging. Not only does the sight become imperfect, but also the memory, imagination, judgment, and other mental processes are temporarily lost. These facts should be known to teachers, because they greatly affect the sight, the mental efficiency, and the scholarship of their pupils. ”

“ Every time you blink, you shift your eyes. You can blink so rapidly that it is not noticeable. When you close your eyes and remember a period, you cannot remember it unless you are, with your eyes closed, going through the process as though you were blinking, looking away from it and back again, but so quickly that it seems as though you were looking at the period continuously. ”

“ One cannot remember a period perfectly by any kind of an effort. It usually happens that one may remember a period for a time, and then lose it by an effort. To remember a period stationary, is impossible. ”

“ It is unfortunate that many patients consider the swing complicated or impossible. However, they can usually demonstrate that a stare or strain lowers the vision. When holding a test card at a convenient distance from the eyes, patients may be convinced that the test card is seen better when moving. They may not profit by their experience, but continue to stare or strain, which always lowers the vision.
One patient was unable to imagine any kind of a swing. He was suffering from pain, mental depression, and imperfect sight for the distance. ”

“ When I was a boy, I wanted to be a fairy, but when I grew up, the king made me a knight and sent me out into the world to slay as many bad people as I could. I was very skillful at doing this.
"One day, while riding through a wood, I saw some blue flowers. They were so beautiful and fragrant that I said aloud, 'Oh, you lovely blue flowers, how I wish you were all fairies,' and then, much to my surprise, every flower turned into a blue fairy. They climbed upon my steed and urged him to canter as fast as he could. ”

“ When the sight is normal, one can demonstrate the short swing. When it is imperfect, one can demonstrate only the longer swing. When a patient with imperfect sight regards the Snellen test card at ten or fifteen feet, he may be able to imagine one of the letters on the card to be swinging a quarter of an inch or less. The imagination of a shorter swing always improves the sight. Some patients can imagine the short swing better with their eyes closed than with them open. ”

“ When the eyes move slowly or rapidly from side to side, stationary objects appear to move in the direction opposite to the movement of the head and eyes.
PEOPLE with normal vision are not always conscious of the swing. When called to their attention, however, they can always demonstrate it, and are always able to imagine all stationary objects to be moving. In imperfect sight, the swing is modified or absent. ”

“ When the memory, imagination and vision are normal, the eyes, the brain and the entire nervous system are at rest. The reverse is also true, for when the muscles and nerves of the body are not at rest, the sight, memory and imagination are imperfect, and the mental efficiency is lessened or lost.
It is impossible to imagine pain, or any symptom of disease and the normal swing at the same time. Children with whooping cough have been immediately relieved by the relaxation obtained from the swing. ”

“ The patient is not able to close the lips sufficiently to whistle. By palming and swinging, relaxation is obtained,—the patient becomes able at once to close the eyelid, and to close the lips sufficiently to whistle. These cases of paralysis do not need electrical nor other stimulation. They are cured by rest. I believe that electricity is a valuable remedy, but it has lost much of its prestige by being employed in cases where it was not needed.
Georgie's mother has unusual intelligence, and she came to us confident we could relieve or cure Georgie's eyes. ”

“ When the sight is normal and continuously good, to try to stop the swing of a letter or other object necessitates a strain,—an effort which always lowers the vision and produces discomfort or pain in one or both eyes. ”

“ The practice of the universal swing is of the greatest benefit, for in this way one can obtain the maximum amount of relaxation.
Stories from the Clinic No. 71: PARTIAL PARALYSIS OF THE THIRD NERVE By Emily C. Lierman GEORGE, aged five years, was sent to me by a physician, who diagnosed his case as paralysis of the third nerve of the right eye. A number of eye specialists said that he could not be cured. One gave him internal treatment for about six months and used electricity on the eye without much permanent benefit. When a nerve is paralyzed, its function is lost. ”

“ Bates' explanation of eye troubles are persuaded that glasees,for the average person, are unnecessary, also, that the vision is lowered as a result of their use. It is appalling to find how many people are actually struggling with glasses, which, they have been told, would relieve ir strain and save their vision. ”