On June 30, 1954, there will be a total solar eclipse similar to the one of a decade ago. This will be of great interest to a large part of the population, many of whom may try to view the eclipse through colored glass, socalled sunglasses, or other colored or tinted devices. This practice can be very harmful, and the public should be warned against it.
The Joint Committee on Industrial Ophthalmology of the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology has investigated the field of filter lenses and has issued a statement that so-called sunglasses (more correctly called sport glasses) do not have a chemical composition that filters out the harmful sun rays, i. e., infra-red. Men in the armed forces who served as spotters are reported to have had for this reason macular burns with permanent loss of central vision. During the last solar