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THE VANCOUVER BRIDE 57

The very best advice for general use in securing and retaining oral hygi-
ene (without which food health is in danger) is “brush your teeth twice a
day!” and “See your dentist twice a year.”

Even if your teeth require “nothing done to them,” your dentist will not
resent you having them examined by him. And if such regular examination
is made, the troubles, when they do develop, will be in their early stages and
readily checked,

Your Eyes and Mine

Written for your good, by A. Higginbotham, Optometrist, Vancouver.

Of all the special senses, sight perhaps is the most valuable and in many
instances the most abused. Sight comprises the perception and translation of
impressions derived from external objects, into the brain.

From an optical standpoint, all objects in nature are divided into lumin-
ous or non-luminous bodies.

Light emitted by the former or reflected from the surface of the latter,
moves in straight lines and the smallest conceivable line if light is called a
ray. The great function of the eye is to collect these rays from surrounding
bodies, to focus them upon its retina, thence along the optic nerve, to the
brain. The eye resembles a photographer’s camera, always exposed for the
receipt of impressions and acting with a swiftness that no mechanical device
can even approach. :

The eyeball itself, therefore, does not see, the act of vision being per-
formed by the brain.

The eye is a very delicate organ and necessarily demands most careful
protection, not only from external injury but from diseases of contiguous
structures. To provide against external injuires, nature has amply provided,
by furnishing a boney framework into which the eye is set, so that only its
anterior one third is exposed. It also has the covering of the lids and the in-
terlacing eye lashes, to protect it, when occasion demands.

The eye is beautiful giving expression to the workings of the mind, and
has been designated by the poet as “the mirror of the soul.” The eye is pro-
vided with a wonderful complete set of muscles giving a maximum rotation
in any direction. |

In addition to the eyeball and its muscles, this orbit contains a thick bol-
ster of fat, which surrounds the globe, protecting it from injury and permit-
ting of its free rotation. The eyelids form a perfect curtain for the eye, and
the lashes are decorative and protective.

The movement of the lids are performed almost entirely by the upper,
the lower being almost stationary.