Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1883-08-29
WHOLE NO. 2l34.
EYES THAT SEE NOT.
Being OF the Hind That are Exported
to FIJI Vacancies Artificial Optics.

Being OF the Hind That are Exported
to FIJI Vacancies Artificial Optics.
ave sell from 100 to $50 artifcia
eyes year. says a Philadelphia op
tician, "and the demand seems to grow
greater every year, There Is very
large nominal profit on these goods
for they sell at SO to SIS each, accord
ing to grade; but when You consider
the trouble and annoyance the fitting
involves and the time it consumes,
you can easily see that they are well
worth the price charged. We never
have a customer that is satisfied with
his new eye at the first trying on.
Within day or two he comes back
and claims that the color is shade
lighter or q shade darker than the
good eye, or that they don't match in
some other way. There is only one
thing for it. We must 60 over our
whole stock until the eye is matched,
and our time and trouble must count
for something. We have a number of
steady customers, who always buy
their eyes of us, and bring them to us
to be cleaned and repaired"
"Where do you get artificial eyes,?
"They are made at Stutzbach, in the
Thuringian forest,in Germany, and the
works employ large force of skilled
workmen. 1t is wonderful how close
ly they initiate the human organ OF
sight. don't believe there is an eye
that cannot be almost perfectly match
ed"
"Do artificial eyes wear out"
"Oh yes, an eye wears out in about
two years. The salt and other alka-
line substances in the tear duct event
ually eat off the polish and the inner
surface becomes rough, and requires
to be repolished,"
I'VE have some custOmers-neryOu
and excitable people--who are con-
stantly changing their eyes, and not at
all to the betterment of their appear
ance. Others provide themselves with
several eyes, and use them alternate
ly. Their wearers must take them
out at night and keep them in clean
water, for the secretions Of the eye
would otherwise gather upon them.
Moreover the muscles that keep them
in place, require frequent rests"
"What are the eyes capable of
movements
zone of the great prerequisites in
the removal of an eye, when it becomes
necessary, is to leave the surrounding
muscles intact. This is generally done
by experienced oculists but sometimes
cases come to us in which the muscles
have been remorselessly destroyed, and
then we find it almost impossible to
make the artificial substitute look nat
ural know pretty young lady
whose glass eye will stare stolidly and
solemnly at You, as if the owner were
inwardly accusing you of some grave
otfense' while her natural eye is twink
ling merrily at the joke that she is lis
tening to or at something funny that
she sees. Once, when she was looking
into her pocket-book for some change
with her good eye, that terrible artlti-
cial eve twisted itself around in my
direction and glared at me with NAL
evidence that frightened me. 1t was
only then that | discovered that 1t
was aglass eye, for it was very well
matched. When | subsequently exam
ined the young lady's case found that
nothing could be done for her. She
must 60 through life subject to all
kinds of misunderstanding, just be-
cause surgeon who didn't understand
his business. had bungled over the op-
Grafton on her eye. know, also, an
old gentleman, whose right eye beams
with intelligence and amiability, while
his left glares gloomily forth with an
air of utter disgust and dissatisfaction
with the world.