Probably your teacher has a test chart and can tell you whether your eyes are properly focused. If your eyes are not focused right, that is, if you cannot see the line of letters marked =20= when you are twenty feet from this chart, there is something wrong with your eyes. In that case, you are not only injuring them by trying to study, but you are hurting the whole body by overworking a part of it. If you cannot see the letters on the test card clearly at a distance of twenty feet, ask your father to send you to a specialist who will fit you with the proper glasses or will treat your eyes so that you can see well. [Sidenote: How to test the hearing] Sometimes children are backward in their school work because they cannot hear well. Your teacher can test your hearing by holding a watch near your ear. If you cannot hear a watch tick when it is held six feet from your ear, ask your father to take you to your doctor, that he may treat your ears. [Sidenote: How to care for the ears] If your hearing is perfect, the best way to take care of the ears is to let them alone. Never try to dig into the canal that leads to the middle ear. The ears must of course be washed to keep them clean, but in washing the ear you should not touch the delicate canal leading to the drum. A great specialist once said, "Never put anything smaller than your elbow into your ear," to which another great specialist added, "And wrap a towel around your elbow." Never try to dig the wax out of your ears; it belongs in your ears; it is there for a purpose, so let it alone. If it becomes hardened, you cannot get it out and will only injure your ears in trying to do so. An ear spoon is a dangerous thing. =Questions.= 1. State the chief cause of loss of sight. 2. How can you keep germs out of your eyes? 3. Name three ways by which you may overwork the eyes. 4. Tell how to take care of the ears. =Remember.= 1. Overworking the eyes is as injurious as overworking the stomach. 2. Keep your hands away from your eyes; germs on your hands may get into your eyes and cause them to become sore. 3. You overwork your eyes when you try to read or write in a poor light or in a bad position, as when lying down. 4. You overwork your eyes when you try to study with eyes that are not properly focused. 5. Keep your fingers out of your ears. 6. Take care of your ears by letting them alone. CHAPTER XIV CARE OF THE SKIN If you break or cut the skin on your body, you make an opening through which germs can get in. You cannot always help breaking your skin, but you can always wash the break with soap and water, and put a clean cloth over it to keep out germs. [Sidenote: The work of the sweat glands]