been blind_, if the nurse who first took care of them when they were
born had known enough to wash their eyes properly, not with soap and
water, of course, but with just one or two drops of a kind of
medicine--an _antiseptic_, as we call it--that makes the eye perfectly
clean.

But you children who have good eyes that can see, do you really see
things when you look at them? You can train your eyes just as you can
train your ears. You can teach them to read quickly down a page, and
to find things in pictures, and, better still, to see things out of
doors, in the garden and the woods and on the seashore. We hear a
great deal about "sharp eyes," but most of us see very little of all
we might see. Our eyes are on the lookout, too, to protect us from
dangers that may come; with our skin and nose and ears, they are
constantly on the watch; so the better we see the safer we are.

Even if your eyes are perfect now, you will need to take good care of
them to keep them strong. Don't let any story, no matter how
interesting it is, tempt you to read in a dim light or a light that is
too strong. And if you can't see the blackboard easily, or can't read
big print, like the school calendar, across the room, tell your mother
or your teacher, so that she can ask the doctor to find out what the
matter is.


IV. A DRINK OF WATER

It is astonishing what thirsty work studying is! Scarcely is the
second recitation over before your throat begins to feel dry, and up
goes your hand--"May I get a drink?"