To Strengthen the Eyes

A popular claim for quack devices was that   they could strengthen the eyes. One common   method was to use suction. It was understood   at the time that the misshapen cornea could   effect eyesight and so several devices were   created that would produce a gentle suction   on the closed eye. Suction was said to   increase a patient’s blood flow and eventually   reshape the cornea, allowing the patient to   throw away their glasses.

Another method to strengthen the eyes was to perform eye exercises. It was said that President John Quincy Adams enjoyed perfect vision throughout his entire 81 years by “rubbing his eyes from the apex of the cornea to the bridge of his nose.” Therefore, quacks advertised devices that incorporated rubbing or massage that could exercise the eye muscles in order to improve vision.

In 1920 William H. Bates (1860-1931) took the notion of strengthening the eyes in an extreme direction. In his book, “The Cure of Imperfect Sight without Glasses,” he attempted to prove that the extraocular muscles determined the refractive state of the eyes. In his theory, one simply needed to perform exercises in order to relax the eyes and mind so that the eyes could passively accommodate properly. Today, one can still find his theories being advocated in books and on the Internet.