William Horatio Bates

“ Although the physiological reasons for it are not so plain, the mind is subject to the same law as the eye. It cannot think of one thing to the exclusion of all other things. Nor can it think continuously of an unchanging object without continuous shifting of the attention. ”

“ The attempt to do these things is accompanied by a strain which is reflected in the eyes and always produces abnormal conditions there.
It is often hard to get patients to realize these facts, because the shifting of attention may be and usually is unconscious. At points where the vision is good patients may shift normally and easily from one part of a letter to another without being aware of the fact, and without noticing the swing produced by this motion. Therefore they often imagine that they can see it all alike at one time for an indefinite period. ”

“ It is probably true that in most cases the person who looks at a dot under the conditions in question would find his vision blurring, or his attention shifting to something else, because he would make an effort to see it. ”

“ The idea that the attention can be forced is a very common one and is very bad for the eyes. It is greatly encouraged by popular writers, but contrary to the teachings of more reliable psychologists, who know that forced attention can only be momentary, and that it is a great strain upon the mind and the whole body. ”

“ In the same way they think that they can remember or imagine a letter all alike at one time continuously. One patient looked at an F for the better part of an hour, seeing it all the time perfectly black and distinct, and, as he thought, all alike and stationary.
He was directed to imagine, with his eyes closed, that a small, black spot on the upper corner of the ten-line F was the blackest part of the letter. Then he was told to remember a similar period on the bottom of the letter and to forget the top period. ”

“ If they see better after closing their eyes or palming, they think it is because these things have helped them to "concentrate.” It is very hard to get these ideas out of their heads, even though, after "concentrating for all they are worth," as they express it, they invariably find that their sight is worse instead of better.
By concentration they seem to mean the ability to do, see, or remember; one thing at a time, for as long a time as they want to, and to stop doing, seeing and remembering everything else ”

“ When asked to concentrate on a point, or imagine one or more points equally well at one time, however, they find it, as in the case just mentioned, impossible, while they have no difficulty in shifting continuously from one point to another. ”

“ Shift the attention from the right-hand period to the left, and observe that every time that you think of the left period the o appears to move to the right, and every time you think of the right one it appears to move to the left. This motion, when the shifting is done properly, is very short, less than the width of the letter. Later you may become able to imagine the o without conscious shifting and swinging, but whenever the attention is directed to the matter these things will be noticed. Now do the same with the a letter on the test card. ”

“ What is the percentage of improvement in each eye? 3. In your experience, when astigmatism has been cured, how does it go—all at once, or gradually? 4. Do you think I have made enough progress to warrant my continuing, or should I go back to glasses, which always gave me comfort, and leave perfect eyesight for those more easily cured? ”

“ Accommodation is brought about by a lengthening of the eyeball through the action of a pair of muscles on the outside. If the patient is able to look at a printed page without effort or strain, the eyeball will lengthen sufficiently to compensate for the loss of the lens. ”