Part 32

MOTHER: And by turning the body we can look any way we please. There is a fly which is said to have twenty-five thousand eyes, but even with so many it can not see more than we can with two, if we turn the head. Another thing which shows the wisdom of our heavenly Father is the position of our eyes. How strange it would seem if they were in the palms of our hands, or in the side or back of the head, or any other place in the body than just where they are!

PERCY: Just think of it! Why, they would get hurt, and how strange we would look!

MOTHER: But we can see only the front part of the eye. Why would it not be as well to have eyes shaped like these?

PERCY: We could not roll them every way, as we can now, and they would not look well.

MOTHER: Then you think they have the very best shape they could have. I think so, too. Now you may each feel around your eyes and tell what you find.

AMY: There is hard bone all around them.

HELEN: They seem to be in a hollow place in the skull.

MOTHER: Yes; and this hollow place is called a socket. They are placed this way to protect them from harm, as we would place precious jewels in a strong casket. The eye, like a round ball, fills the socket or cave in which it lives and moves, and behind and around it is a soft cushion of fat.

ELMER: A ball hit my eye to-day, and it just seemed to go in, so it didn’t hurt much. This must be because it was resting on such a soft cushion.

MOTHER: And we see how the eyes are kept from in´ju-ry, too, by the little porches, or eyebrows, above. The stiff hairs, like a hairy arch, keep the sweat from running into them, and they also add beauty to the face. Then there is a pair of curtains for each one.

AMY: I know what they are,--the eyelids.

MOTHER: And like a double curtain, or shutter, they close to keep the eyes from harm whenever danger is near. Quick as thought they shut tightly together; and each one has a hairy fringe to keep out dust or other objects hurtful to the eyes. Each of these curtains, or awnings, is placed in charge of two servant muscles, one to raise, the other to lower it, and they play up and down without noise or a hitch anywhere.

HELEN: And when we go to sleep, they softly close the window until we wake again.

MOTHER: These windows in our house also wash and keep themselves clean. There is a tiny factory above the eye, where tears are made. Perhaps you have often wondered where tears came from, and now you know. As the eyelids move up and down, the tears keep running over the eye, which makes it move so easily in the socket that it does not ache or wear out, and they keep it clean and bright. There is a little drain-pipe opening on the inner side of each lower eyelid, which carries away the tears into the nose after they are used. If we are sad or unhappy, sometimes so many tears are made that they can not pass through these drains, and then they run over the eyelids down the cheeks. There are also some little factories in the eyelids which make an oil for the edges of the lids, so they will not stick together, and to keep the tears from running over the face.

PERCY: I never knew before where the tears came from, and that they were being made and used all the time.

HELEN: Nor I. Not long ago I read about a little girl named Margie who never cried when any small mishap came to her. But one day her best-loved dolly fell and got a dreadful bruise on her nose. Margie winked hard a few minutes, and then buried her face in her mother’s lap, sobbing, “O mama, I don’t want to cry, but all my tears have come unfastened!”

MOTHER: Poor child! she was nearer the truth than she thought; and no doubt many folks, big and little, would be glad sometimes if they could keep their tears fastened up better. Have you ever thought why your eyes do not fall out when you bend over?

AMY: They must be fastened in tight.

MOTHER: That is true; for they are held by six little muscles, whose work it is to keep them in place and move them about.

ELMER: But what is inside of the eye, mother?

MOTHER: Let us look at the outside a little longer before we talk of the inside. Because the colored part of the eye is round, it is called the eyeball. It is with this part we see. The white part of the eye is filled with a clear substance, quite like jelly, and it has several strong coats or coverings outside. What part of the eye do you think we see through?

HELEN: The black spot in the center.

MOTHER: What is it called?

PERCY: The pupil.

MOTHER: Now look into each other’s eyes. What do you see around the pupil?

ELMER: There is a blue ring in Amy’s eyes.

MOTHER: This is called the iris, which means a rainbow. You know we all like to see pretty curtains hung before windows, and such beautiful curtains you never saw as these in the eye. They are only half an inch wide, but they open or draw together around the pupil so the eye has just the right amount of light. When you are where it is very light, this wee round curtain draws up very small. If you are in a dark room, it opens wide, so the eye can have all the light there is. Sometimes these curtains are brown, gray, or blue, just the color which will match the outside of the house best.

AMY: But won’t you please tell us, mother, how we see with our eyes.