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Patients often ask how long it takes to be cured. The answer is that
it takes only as long as it takes to relax. If this can be done in
five minutes, the patient is cured in five minutes, no matter how
great the degree of his error of refraction, or how long its duration.
All persons with errors of refraction are able to relax in a few
seconds under certain conditions, but to gain permanent relaxation
usually requires considerable time. Some persons, however, are able to
get it very quickly. These quick cures are very rare, except in the
case of children under twelve; but they do occur, and I believe the
time is coming when it will be possible to cure everyone quickly. It
is only a question of accumulating more facts and presenting them in
such a way that the patient can grasp them quickly.

A very remarkable case of a quick cure was that of a man of fifty-five
who had worn glasses for thirty years for distant vision and ten years
for reading, and whose distant vision at the time he consulted me was
20/200.

When he looked at the Snellen test card the letters appeared grey to
him instead of black. He was told that they were black, and the fact
was demonstrated by bringing the card close to him. His attention was
also called to the fact that the small letters were just as black as
the large ones. He was then directed to close and cover his eyes with
the palm of his hands, shutting out all the light. When he did this he
saw a perfect black, indicating that he had secured perfect relaxation
and that the optic nerve and visual centers of the brain were not
disturbed. While his eyes were still closed he was asked:
 "Do you think that you can remember with your eyes open the perfect
black that you now see?"
  "Yes," he answered, "I know I can."

When he opened his eyes, however, his memory of the black was
imperfect, and though able to read the large letters, he could not
read the small ones. A second time he was told to close and cover his
eyes, and again he saw a perfect black. When he opened his them he was
able to retain complete control of his memory, and so was able to read
the whole card. This was ten minutes after he entered the office.

Diamond type was now given him to read, but the letters looked grey to
him, and he could not distinguish them. Neither could he remember
black when he was looking at them, because in order to see them grey
he had to strain, and in order to remember black he would have had to
relax, and he could not do both at the same time. He was told that the
letters were perfectly black, and when he looked away from them he was
able to remember them black. When he looked back he still remembered
them black, and was able to read them with normal vision at twelve
inches. This took five minutes, making the whole time in the office
fifteen minutes. The cure was permanent, the patient not only
retaining what he had gained, but continuing to improve his sight, by
daily reading of fine print and the Snellen test card, till it became
almost telescopic.

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