To my discourse in the former problem some objection may be drawn from the sense of seeing in old men; for, if they hold a book at a distance, they will read pretty well, nearer they cannot see a letter. This Aeschylus means by these verses:
Behold from far; for near thou canst not see;And Sophocles more plainly:
A good old scribe thou mayst much sooner be.
Old men are slow in talk, they hardly hear;And therefore, if old men's organs are more obedient to strong and intense qualities, why, when they read, do they not take the reflection near at hand, but, holding the book a good way off, mix and weaken it by the intervening air, as wine by water?
Far off they see; but all are blind when near.