Uncorrected visual acuity1 is an important basis for physical classification in the Army. Consequently, some soldiers, in order to escape combat service, simulate decreased visual acuity. In civilian life, in compensation or accident cases, persons also often conceal their true visual status. It is absurd in examination of such patients to rely solely on a subject's statements as to his visual acuity. By following the routine about to be described, one may in most cases estimate with reasonable accuracy the uncorrected visual acuity of ametropic persons.
A careful retinoscopic study should be made after complete cycloplegia has been obtained. Slit lamp and ophthalmoscopic examinations should rule out opacities in the media and lesions in the fundi. Neurologic conditions that cause central scotoma are not detectable with the ophthalmoscope. The history, the circumstances surrounding the case, the perimetric and tangent screen plottings at varying distances usually all aid in establishing