The daily Evansville journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1862-1863, 1863-09-16
8. The EYes off the Mead. ;,

Considerable interest having been
aroused by our announcement of the
success attending Mr.. Adams expert
ments with the eye of Mr. Herke, re-
Gently murdered in German township in
this county, we feel disposed to allude to
the subject again. Most of our cotem-
poraries copied our statement without
comment Those who had anything to
say appear to be incredulous, and imae-
ane that we were mistaken, and that the
Photographic plato VIC examined may
have got a soldiers face upon it by acct
dent before the eye of the murdered man
was taken. This seems to be the opin
ion of our learned friend, who presides
over the editorial department of the In
deeper-(we wen say he got beyond his
depth -than any one else, we COPY his
theory in full:
Our readers have no doubt seen the
story, originated in England that the
retlna of the eye of dead man retains
for some time after death, the picture Of
the last object beheld in life, clearly
enough to allow it to be viewed as a sort
OF dim dsguerreotype, but they probably.
gave it little credit We certainly did
not, for there is nothing in the structure
or material of the eye to warrant the be-
hef that vision is made by change of
Its tissue produced by the light, as a pho
tograph is produced by change of the
coating under the action of light. and
without such a change we cannot under
stand how the form of an object on the
retina can remain an instant longer than
the eye is turned upon the object IF the
picture of the last object seen in life will
remain for hours after death, why will
not the picture of the object next before
the last, preceding it by an instant. and
the next before that, and why, in short.
won't the picture remain on live retina
as well as dead one2 That it don't
remain on the latter we know. becansa
II 1t did, every motion of the eyes, in
daylight, would make queer mess of
sights.
The first object seen would be mixed
up with, run over, or tangled through a
half dozen succeeding it Vision is in
Simultaneous, or nearly so, both in recelv-
ing and losing an impression. The optic
nerve IS the plate upon which the mind
sees whatever can be seen, and II won1d
be as sensible to talk of the last taste in
mans month remaining perceptible on
the nerves of the palate, to the eve of a
dlssecter, as the last object seen remain
ing on the nerves of the eye. How death
can continue the impression made in life
upon nerve, when its most obvious eff
feet Is to destroy the action of the nerve.
is too mysterious for our comprehension
or credulity. If the picture of the last
object seen remains on the retina. or
anywhere in the eye, it is because death
makes it material, an actual picture. and
not sensation, and how death can con-
vert mental impression into a material
exlstencesthat viii last day or two, is
harder to understand, great deal. than
1t is 80 understand that those who think
they have seen something in q dead mans
eye more than the coats or humors that
compose II, are mistaken Yet as stronc
as me reasons appear a priori against
any hying vision leaving picture in a
dead eye, the following statement from
the Evansville Journal would appear to
upset them all We copy it without con-
ceding anything more than that photo
graphic plate may have got soldiers
lace upon it by accident before the eve of
the murdered man was taken.
Here follows our account of the ex-
pertinent, as given by us at the time it
was made.
For some reason, we can't tell why, |