I said, "No, I think not. We have had such a good Convention and these ladies have had so many good things which they will carry home with them that possibly anything I might say at this time would detract from the effectiveness of the work, rather than add to it."

I said when I met Dr. Guest this afternoon that I was pleased to meet her; I do not know that I can truthfully say that I am pleased with the outcome of our

I am

conversation. I do not like these expressions of appreciation very well. like the little boy Mr. Atkinson spoke of; I would rather do things and not hear expressions of appreciation, especially in public, from those who are interested. I feel very keenly the responsibility which rests upon me as Superintendent of the Women's Institutes and I want your hearty co-operation as I have had it in the

past. It requires some person to look after the executive work and to receive and pass on suggestions. I feel that that is about all I have done, or can do, although it is true that in getting up the programmes for the Conventions from year to year, I am practically left alone and have to shoulder the responsibility. But the Conventions are made a success because we have such a noble band of women who are assisting in this grand work throughout Ontario and all I can say is that I will continue to give my best thought and effort to the work. On account of the increased demand from the farmers and the women of the rural districts for more assistance along various lines I find the work of a general directive nature increasing, and it is practically impossible for me to do many things which should be done. and we could, as suggested by Dr. Guest, utilize the services of two or three supervisors in connection with Women's Institutes. We welcome criticism and activity. If you see anything in the Institute that you do not like, let us know.

I will not say more, except to wish you "God speed" the coming year. I thank you heartily for your expression of appreciation and approval.

EYESIGHT AND HOW TO CARE FOR IT.

MRS. E. B. McTURK, LUCAN.

"There is a certain power

Which men do call the light; like wind and storm,

It doth descend unto us from above.

And like to these, with swiftness uncontrolled,

The objects which it touches gain a new

Significance, and a peculiar stamp.

And oftentimes, with warmth, 'tis closely blent.
'Tis through the eye, it finds its way to us,

And by the power of seeing it, we gain
A true perception of the universal."

-From "King Rene's Daughter.'

The subject selected is a wide one, involving the science of anatomy, physiology and optics, and has enlisted earnest workers in the study and accumulated a literature of its own which is almost exhaustless.

When we consider how people wilfully abuse and neglect this most delicate. organ or our body, we think it high time to introduce this subject to the Women's Institutes of Ontario. Consider what our eyes mean to us. We see a stranger and our first thought is, "what beautiful eyes"; then we look again and perhaps see plain features or poor complexion, unnoticed before because of the beauty of the

eyes.

You look into the eyes of your friends and without a word spoken, you read sympathy for your trouble, joy for your happiness or encouragement for your

success.

You feel pity at the sight of one who is blind, but you cannot realize what it must be to live in such darkness, not to see the faces of your dear ones or the ever changing beauties of God's earth. Yet you keep on abusing your eyes and allowing your children to do the same.

The eyes are the windows of the soul. Think of the time you housekeepers spend in polishing your windows and draping them so carefully that the passerby

will admire their spotlessness. The business man spends much labor on the cleanliness, brightness and good arrangement of his windows for the simple purpose of attracting the public to their beauty. How much more then, should the windows of the soul receive attention, when we consider how they reflect the inmost feelings of our nature.

The object is to place before you such simple knowledge as would be necessary for you to understand the conditions under which the eyes do their work and place their knowledge in the most simple language possible.

An intelligent care of the eyesight requires some knowledge of the structure and functions of the organ of vision. One would naturally suppose that a subject so important to the life of the individual would present attractions to an inquiring mind, but the experience of eye specialists goes to show that, outside of the profession, the simplest laws of optics are a sealed book.

Many who will rest a tired back or nurse a lame leg, will goad on their willing but disabled or overstrained eyes in the most reckless way.

The hints which I give you will have reference to prevention rather than cure. Lawyers say, "the man who pleads his own case has a fool for a client,” and many sad results are met with in proof of the fact that the man who undertakes to doctor his own eyes has a patient far from wise.

In the small space occupied by the eye and its appendages, all the anatomical elements of the body are represented and, by their delicate adjustment to one another, render this little organ one of the greatest wonders of Nature.

The eyeball is nearly spherical in form and about an inch in diameter. It consists of three coats or membranes and three humors. The outside coat is a tough firm membrane and protects the delicate contents. It is called the "Sclerotic," we would say the white of the eye. One-fifth of this coat is transparent, called the Cornea. The next coat is the "Chorid," consisting of a network of blood vessels, lined with a layer of nearly black cells which absorb the excess of light, otherwise by reflection and diffusion we could not have accurate vision.

The Iris forms a curtain behind the Cornea and it is the Iris that gives to the eye its special color and upon which its beauty, to a great extent, depends. When we speak of a brown, blue, hazel or black eye, we mean that this is the color of the Iris, which color depends on the waves of light reflected and a greater or less amount of dark pigment. The color is usually in accord with the individual, so we have every shade from the black of the negro to the pink of the albino, which has no pigment and we see the reflection of the red blood of the Chorid. Their sight is defective because they are painfully sensitive to light and have not the natural protection. The eyes of infants are always blue until the sixth or eighth week, so our poets are quite right in the statement that, "Babies look about them in blue-eyed wonder." Near the centre of the Iris is a round opening, the Pupil, through which all light must pass to the back part of the eye. The pupil has the property of contracting or dilating. Belladonna applied to the eye will dilate the pupil and opium or blood rushing to the head will contract it. At the junction of the Iris and Chorid is a bundle of very important muscles named Ciliary muscle. to which we will again refer.

The Retina is the third and most important coat, for on it are formed the images of external objects by means of which we are said to " see "them. There are several layers but only two important to us, the external which receives the image and the internal which conveys the sensation to the brain.

The Optic Nerve is formed by the nerve fibrils collected in a bundle passing from the back of the eye, received in a strong sheath and passing to the brain. The optic nerve conveys no impression than that of light, hence when we get a blow the result is a flash of light or we "see stars." A disease of the optic nerve frequently destroys sight without the slightest pain.

The three humors are aqueous, crystalline and vitreous. The aqueous is nearly pure water. The crystalline is firmer and shaped like a double convex and is contained in an elastic capsule. It is very flexible during youth but grows denser with age. The vitreous is colorless and transparent. It maintains the form of the eyeball and yields sufficiently to protect the delicate structure. The eyeball is imbedded in a soft cushion of oily fat which supports and protects it but allows it to move in all directions. The orbit in which the ball is lodged is a hollow cone of bone projecting forward and outward and shielding it from a blow. The eyeball cannot be injured by the fist except when it is aimed from beneath.

The

The eyebrows are formed of muscle and thick skin covered with stiff hairs which protect the eyes from excessive light and shed any perspiration. eyelid is thin loose skin, protecting the eye during sleep and, at the least touch, at once covers the eye.

The lachrymal apparatus is the gland for secreting tears and the passage for draining them off. It is lodged in the roof of the orbit, is poured upon the ball through a number of small ducts carried by the passages into the nose. Infants do not shed tears before the third or fourth month and the elephant is the only one of the lower animals accused of this human weakness.

The eyeball is moved in different directions by six muscles. When from any cause one set of muscles act in excess of their opponents, a squint is produced. The operation for "cross eyes" consists in weakening, by cutting, the over-acting muscles. You have sometimes noticed a child with an eye having a tendency to turn outward or inward more noticeable when the child is tired or has been using the eyes. It is caused by one muscle being stronger than the opposite one and so draws the eye out of its true position. If this child is at once properly fitted with spectacles by an expert optician, the weak muscle becomes strong and in time the glasses will probably be laid aside, thus saving the grown-up child from a crooked eye and possible operation.

When we look at a large object or a landscape we see only a small portion of it at a time, distinctly. The image received is like a picture finished in the centre but roughly sketched at the borders. When you read, it is necessary to move the eyes back and forward along the lines, for otherwise we could distinguish not more than one long word. If we hold a veil between our eyes and a book we can either see to read or see the meshes distinctly, but not both at the same time, thus showing that some change takes place in the eye to adapt it to different distances. This is called the Accommodation of the eye and is due to the elasticity of the ciliary muscles and crystalline humor or lense. Sometimes measles, scarlet fever or other illness will paralyze the ciliary muscle and the greatest care should be taken in using spectacles at this time so that no bad results may follow.

Briefly, we will refer to some of the common injuries and diseases, and some errors in reference to them.

The most common form of injury is from particles of dust and small foreign bodies. As the course of the tears is from the gland at the upper and outer part of the ball, towards the canals at its inner side, such particles are washed by the flow of tears and moved by the action of the lids towards the inner or tear lake