Your Eyes, Madam

Your eyes are the most powerfully sensitive organ in your body, and the greatest mirror of your physical fatigue. If the least tiredness or redness or strain shows on them, rest them from time to time. Avoid staring at small objects, and when the opportunity offers, set your eyes free even for a few minutes, or look toward the far horizon so as to let the pupil expand and relieve its constant fixing upon what is near it.

Bathing the eye with boric solution works wonders and removes visible fatigue. Do not rub your eyes, and remember the old proverb: "Touch your eyes only with your elbow." On rising in the morning, do a few exercises that help to strengthen them, such as moving the eye to the right, then the left, then upward, then downward, twelve times, and afterward wash them with cold water. For older women, an eye bath with hot water before sleep helps the circulation of the blood. Very often wrinkles in the face, or a painful headache, or nervous tension result from some trouble in the eye which medicine may not reveal at first glance. The least imbalance that occurs in the eye must be corrected, or it will have a great effect upon the nerves. Therefore do not put off visiting the doctor twice a year, and hurry to him at the least feeling of pain in your eyes.

If you need to use eyeglasses, let them sit squarely upon your face, for their crookedness affects the balance of your sight. And do not neglect to change them every few years.

Avoid working and reading in dim light. The light should come from behind you or from above your head while you read or work or sew. Try to place yourself away from the glare of vessels around you, or of the table or the wall, for their reflection upon your eyes harms them, besides consuming a great deal of heat energy. Do not read in strong sunlight, especially if you are facing the sun directly. Reading in automobiles and carriages is ruinous to the eyes. If you read in bed, avoid sitting crookedly. Hold the book before your eyes in a straight line, and let the light fall upon it, not upon your eyes. Do not place your book too close to your eyes, and sit in the cinema at a distance of at least thirty feet back, to lessen their discomfort.

Fatigue shows on and around the eyes from several causes: poor digestion, anemia, eyestrain, too little sleep and too little fresh air, or too much starch in the food. You can conceal it by using a special light-green or very pale lilac salve under the powder, which you should apply thickly over it. And if the fatigue is in the eyelids, you can relieve it by wiping the lid with a special oil that keeps the lid from wrinkling, or by using a kind of skin-nourishing cream before sleep.