Page 19 - Miracle in the Eye

HARUN YAHYA

eye's upper layer, would dry out, costing the eye immediate loss of function.
The tiniest dust particle lodged in the eye would create serious problems from
infection, thanks to the bacteria on its surface. The eye, left unprotected from
even the gentlest impact, would be in constant danger of going blind.
As a real-life example, take lagophthalmos, an illness in which sufferers
cannot close their eyelids completely. Infection, along with drying of the
cornea, becomes inevitable. Chronic cases can result in permanent eye dam-
age. Since the eyelids cannot be fully shut and the cleansing fluids are not
available, the patient needs to constantly cleanse and disinfect the eyes. Even
then, an eye that remains partly open all night collects aerial dirt and dust by
the morning. 4

An Early-Warning System
The eye is protected with the help of a built-in early-warning system.
Whenever danger threatens, nerves activate to engage the eyelids, stimulate
the muscles that close the lids.
Different types of muscle groups specialize in eyelid movements, whose
closing takes three forms:
- By blinking,
- By reflex,
- And consciously.
Blinking is a property of vertebrates that possess eyelids and live in con-
tact with the atmosphere. In humans, the rate of blinking is between ten to
twenty per minute depending on activities such as reading and intense con-
centration, and conditions like the rise of air humidity—all of which reduce
the rate. Grief, a rise in temperature and intense light all accelerate blinking.
Thus the hygiene of the eye is maintained by automatically adjusted rates of
blinking, freeing us from worry over when to close our lids.
Reflexes are involuntary and rapid responses to various stimuli. The re-
flex mechanism that activates eyelids when necessary protects the eye
against external threats. Stimuli that create reflexes include contacting the
cornea, the eyelashes or even the forehead.
A close inspection of the neural network controlling eye reflexes reveals

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