Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-08-07
THE EYE STONE.
A Curious Little Bone that Does Use
I full Work, and Acts as IL Alive.
From The Ne,o York Star,

& 1uk work, ana ACiS as X hliNc'
From The Ne,o York Star,
''Yes. we keep eye stones" said nm up
town druggist, "but we don't nave cal
for one once in five years. Yet there mus
be quite demand for them, tor whole
sale dealers purchase AL that are brought
them by sailors who make business oil
collecting them on their voyages. Did
you ever see an eye stone"
"No," said the reporter. "But they
are found in the stomachs OF cray sn,
believe"
"Tben your belief Is about as Tar wrong
as il could be-" SAID the druggist, as ne
took a small bottle from drawer. IL
was bali full OF what seemed to be very
small round, fat pieces of polished bone.
Implying lew Of the pieces on the
counter be picked one up and LANDED II
10 the reporter TO examine. There was
nothing notable about the little bone eX-
pept that one side was composed OF nu-
merous concentric grooves.
THAT is an eye stOne," said the drug
gist, pouring some liquid out OF a bottle
on 10 a smooth plate and dllutlng IL WIN
water. And this is a weak solution OF
lime juice"
The druggs st took one of the eve stones
and put it into the solution. Presently
the stone began TO move as il 1t were
alive. IL made its way slowly about IN
different directions in the liquid in mys-
ferrous manner.
That strange movement of the eye
stone when placed in weak solution OF
lime Juice or vinegar has given rise
among ignorant and superstti0us people
To the notion that 1t has life, and that 1t
loves vinegar, and loves to SWIM in II
. al a Rnt fbnFA more
lite in an eye stone than there is in a
paving stone. 1t is composed of cal
-careous material, and when placed in the
solutions named is made to move about
by carbonic acid gas, which Is evolved by
the contact with the liquid acid. These
little stones and all genuine eye stones
once were the front doors to the shells of
little molluscous animal that lives along
the Venezuelan and other south Ameri-
can coasts. The shell is uniyalye. This
calcareOus formation is on the tip end OF
the little animal, and when he draws
himself into his she'll TO escape danger or
40 10 sleep, the end, of course, is the last
part of him that is drawn into the cavity
or mouth OF the shell, where 10 fits so
closely and is so hard that it affords per-
feet protection TO the animal against enc
mics from without. The native inhabl-
.tants collect the eye stones in large guam
titles, ana regard them Win great awe.
Sailors engaged on the fruit trading yes
sells that visit these regions OBTAIN the
stones and fetch them TO New York for
sale to the wholesale druggists.
"There are two little bones found in
the head of the craytish. just back OF aud
beneath the eyes, which resemble the eye
stone, except that they are smooth all
over. These are called eye stones. and
are used as such in OHIO and other West
ern states, but they have none Of the vir-
tues of the real eve stone. The proper
name fer the stone found IN the craytish
is crab stones. In Poland and parts Of
Russia quite trade is done in collecting
crab stones. The cTay1sh are buried in
deep pits. and lett there until they rot.
The refuse is then washed and the stones
are picked out. They are used in many
parts OF Europe as corrective OF the
stomach.
''Tnere is nothing better to remove for
eign substances from the eve than one OF
these South American eye stones. Be-
fore using them many people think it
necessary to put them IN vinegar to give
them life,' but il IL not necessary. The
etOue is inserted at one corner oi the eve,
with the grOOved side next to the lid.
The pressure Of the eyeball forces it 10
move about in the eye, and the grooves
collect the foreign matter and retain it.
After making u thorough circuit of the
eve the stone will come out at the corner
next The nose. No Inconvenience is caused
by its presence in the eve"