The Washington critic. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1885-1888, 1885-11-26
MUMMY OR FISH EYES.
The Curious But Deadly Jewelry from
Peru Discussed by n Microscopist.

The Curious But Deadly Jewelry from
Peru Discussed by Mlcroscopist.
From The Jewellers Clrcular1
The subject which take the liberty Of
presenting to you, said George +. Kuuz,
in paper read lately before the New
York Microscopical Society, was brought
TO my attention by anumber Of articles that
recently appeared in the daily papers. In
these articles 1t was stated that n necklace
was being made by Meesrs. Tiffany q Co.
of petrifed human eyes; that
arsenic had been used in the prep
asation of these eyes, and that three
workmen who were engaged on the neck
lace had been made suddenly III by the del
oterious poison, and refused to resume work
on such dangerous material. Through the
kindness Of Mr.. w. Il. Curtis | was enabled
TO bring the material with me tonight, and
on inquiry at headquarters the facts were
elected, which shall present TO you.
Prof. Baird also informs me that the So
called mummies' eyes are well known, and
that the first he ever saw were brought 10
the United States from Peru by Lieut.. Gillis
about thirty years ago. Prof. Baird adds
that they are, without question, the crys-
talline lenses of the eyes OF a species of cut
tie fish (squid). This view Is corroborated
by rfof. Verrill, who says that there is
large squid, very common on the Peruvian
coast, the lens OF the eye Of which is about
as large as these so-called mummics' eyes.
Some Of the lenses from the eyes of these
cutie fish measure only 3 mm., but the ma
iority of them are l2 nm. in diameter, and
some as much MS IS nm. The color, really
only the result of age, Is dark amber
yellow or golden bronze, externally, on the
.... .sl L.. all lNANv aRA IL
Opaque, and have the appearance Of an
onion skin or any other sacklike concre-
tion. On the fiat side, however, the color
is much lighter, and a little play OF lights
noticeable The surface is rough, as II an
exudation had hardened on 1t. The
structure of the lenses is like that of u
pearl, an aggregation of successive envelop-
ing layers, which are marked ON the sur
face by sets of concentric rings. II is also
plain, from these rings, that the lenses are
sections, constituting only about one-half
of the original lenses of the fish, the In
tention undoubtedly being to produce adj
ditionnl luminous effect by this series Of
hemispherical refectors.
The crystalline lens of q human eye
would not be so large as even the medium
sized lens exhibited here this evening" and
is so exceedingly delicate that 1t can only
be preserved at all by the greatest care.
In many fishes, and especially the cuttle
| fish (squid), the lens of the eye contains so
| much solid matter that 1t will dry up in q
short time, and with very little contraction,
| into hard transparent mass, which would
| probably be durable.
On the contrary, Prof. Raimondi, the most
eminent ethnologist of Peru, believes these
| eyes to be human, and DIR. Tschudi, Of
| Vienna, is said to support him in this
theory.
The region where these mummy eyes are
| found is rainless, and the mummies were
| dried In q sitting posture in the salty sand
| or the inter beds, often thousands Of them
| at one place. This being the case, they
must have been exposed to the public gaze,
and the embalmers would naturally wish to
| make the appearance of the dead MS attrac-
tive as possible. Hence it is probable that
the cutie fish eyes, which were inserted
into the empty sockets, were cut into two
| nearly equal parts, in order to obtain
| greater luster and give natural brightness
| to the eyes of the dead.
The three workmen who were engaged in
polishing these eyes were all affected soon
after working on them. The saving and
polishing were done at different times, and
in each case the same result followed, so
that the workmen are confident that their
illness was caused by the inhalation of dust
during the saving. The youngest, boy OF
16, was taken sick after working only few
hours. His illness consisted Of headache,
| biliousness, and vomiting, and lasted for
one day. Another workman, a strong,
hearty Frenchman, about 45 years of age,
and weighing nearly 200 pounds, reported
that he was taken sick with nausea, sick
headache, and vomiting, and noticed dis
agreeable, metallic taste in his mouth during
his entire illness, which lasted four days.
The other, German lapldary, about 40
years of age, was affected shortly after
working at the eyes with an eruption OF
snail pimples over his entire body, and
when any of the affected parts were rubbed
q swelling Immediately arose. This rash
was perceptible for over month. From
the fact that these three cases occurred in
one workshop, and soon after work was
commenced on the eyes, the men very nat
urally reasoned that the eyes were the cause
of their sickness, and expressed desire moi
to resume work on them.
In response to an inquiry, Prof. Baird
writes that he never heard that poisonou:
qualities were inherent in the eyes II they
are really poisonous, 1t surely cannot bt
from any preparation used to preserve
them, for no preservative was necessary
as would have been the case il they were
human eyes. 1t has been observed, how
ever, that In this case certain alkaloids may
be generated by the decomposition of the
organic constituents of the eyes. This
matter will soon be determined patholog
lChlly ny nybell. lne ollteu Sttes survey
chemists are also examining the lenses, tC
see what allaloids, If any, are present.
As ornaments these eyes are truly beautl
full when the exudation on the cut surface
has been removed, and they are finely pol
ished. They vary in color from light yel
lowish amber tint to a dark yellow, yellow
ish brown, or rich amber brown, similar tC
that from Catania, Sicily In some case
the colors are found in alternated bands, as
in the Mexican fire opals from Querertcra
Although the reflections lack the play o
colors found in the opal, the tints ar,
warmer and more pleasing The luster OF
the uncut rounded sides is pearly. With
proper gold mounting these eyes would
give very beautiful effect in iewelry, al
though moisture would be likely to injur,
| tle pOlish