The first lecture in the Harvard University course on the education of the blind, which is conducted through the co-operation of Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind, will be held on this afternoon at.4 o'clock. This course, conducted by Dr. Edward E. Allen and the only one of its kind in the world, will meet weekly on Fridays and Saturdays through January 10 either at Lawrence Hall in Cambridge or at the school in Watertown.

The course is given for prospective teachers of the blind and workers among them and is designed to present in a short period a comprehensive survey of the field of work. It emphasizes the problems which arise in the teaching of children who have little or no eyesight and supplies the background that will dignify the subject in the teacher's mind.

The opportunities for reading and for observation of special methods and practice will be ample and valuable. The hours have been arranged to make it possible for teachers, school nurses, public health nurses, social workers and volunteers, whose interests already include work with the blind as well as for those wishing to fit themselves for service in this special field, to attend both the lectures and the demonstrations.

This course, established 10 years ago, offers an opportunity to spread afar the ideals of Perkins Institution. Several of the 120 students who have taken it came from such widely separated countries as Holland, Germany, Alaska, Japan, Hawall, Mexico, Columbia, Porto Rico and Cuba.