National Republican., 1885-11-21
MUMMY OR FISH EYES.
The Curious But Deadly Jeweiry from
Peru Discussed by o. .Dtioroscopist.
nsrn,r, Tl,..- -In,r NJ. f.irn,llnrA


Peru Discussed by .. DticroscoPist.
From The Jowolsps' cireular.)
The subject which ( take the liberty OF
presenting TO you, said ueorge f. Kunz,
IN paper read lately before the New
York Microseopical Society, was brought
tony attention by number Of articles that
recently appeared in the doily papers. In
these articles IL was stated that necklace
was being made by Messrs. Tiffany & Co.
of petrified human eyes; that
arsenic had been used in the prep.
asation of these eyes, and that three
worltmen who were engaged on the neck
lace had been made suddenly i'll by the del
eterious 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
elicited, which shall present TO you.
Prof Baird also informs me that the So
called mummies' eyes are well known, and
that the first lie ever saw were brought TO
the United States from Peru by Lieut.. Gillls
about thirty years ago. Prof Baird adds
TINT they are, without question, the crys-
talline lenses OF the eyes of species Of cut
tie fish (squid). This view is corroborated
by rrof. Nerrill, who says that there is a
large squid, very common on the Peruvian
coast, the lens Of the eye Of which is about
as large as these so-called mummles eyes.
Some of the lenses from the eyes Of these
cutie fish measure only NM, but the ma.
jority of them are IL mm In diameter, and
soma as much as is MN. The color, really
only the result of age, is n dark amber
yellow or golden bronze, externally, on the
convex side. In all cases they are nearly
opaque, and have the appearance Of an
onion skin or any other sack-like concre-
ton. On the flat side, however, the color
is much lighter, and a little play Of light is
noticeable. The surface is rough, as IL an
exudatlon had hardened on II. The
structure Of the lenses is like that Of q
pearl, an aggregation Of successive euvelop-
ing layers, which are marked on the sur
face by sets Of ooncentric 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 ad-
ditional luminous effect by this series Of
hemispherical refectors.
The crystalline lens Of human eye
| would not be so large as even the medium
| sized lens exhibited here this evening, and
| is so exceedingly delicate that II can only
be preserved at all by the greatest care.
In many fishes, and especially the cutie
fish (squid), the lens of the eye contains so
|
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 DR.. Tschudi, OF
Vienna, is said to support him in this
theory.
The region where these mummy eyes arc
found is rainless and the mummies were
| ria In n eli Ia N an nd
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 as attrac
tive as possible. Hence 1t 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 lustor and give II natural brightness
to the eyes Of the dead
The three workmen who were engaged II
polishing these eyes were all affected sool
after working on them. The saving ant
polishing were done at different times ant
In each case the same result followed, 81
that the workmen are confident that thei
illness was caused by the inhalation of dus
during the saving. The youngest, boy o
16, was taken sick after working only few
hours. His illness consisted Of headache
biliousness, and vomiting, and lasted TO
one day. Another workman, strong
hearty Frenchman, about 40 years OF age
and weighing nearly 200 pounds, reported
that he was taken sick with nausea, slcl
headache, and vomiting, and noticed dis
agreeable, metallic taste In his mouth durin
his entire illness, which lasted four days
The other, German lapidary, about 4
years of age, was affected shortly afte
working at the eyes with an eruption c
small pimples over his entire body, an
when any OF the affected parts were rubbe
swelling Immediately arose. This ras
was perceptible for over month. Fror
the fact that these three cases occurred II
one workshop, and soon after work wa
commenced on the eyes, the men very na
urally reasoned that the eyes were the caus
Of their sickness, and expressed desire nj
to resume work on them.
In response to an inquiry, Prof. Bair
writes that he never heard that poisonou
qualities were inherent In the eyes. II the
are really poisonous, 1t surely cannot
from any preparation used to preserN
= them, for no preseryative was necessar.
as would have been the case IL they wei
human eyes. 1t has been observed, HOY
!, ever, that In this case certain alkaloids me
be generated by the decomposition Of IL
organic constituents Of the eyes. Th
: matter will soon be determined patholol
s ically by myself. The United Ststes survt
Y chemists are also examining the lenses,
l see what alkaloids, If any, are present.
0 AS ornaments these eyes are truly beaut
D full when the exudatlon on the cut surfa
has been removed, and they are finely pc
: ished. They vary In color from light "
:, lowish amber tint to a dark yellow, yello'
: fish brown, or rich amber brown, similar
G that from Catania, Sicily. In some cas-
!, the colors are found in alternated bands,
n in the Mexican fire opals from Quererter
: Although the reflections lack the play
t colors found in the opal, the tints q
ee the uncut nn% rounded e sdes ( pearIy % With
i proper gold mounting these eyes wou
g give very beautiful effect in jewelry,
Q though moisture would be likely to inju
n the polish.