Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1886-08-19
The Eye Stone.
rHE FRONT Door op 1 soUru AMERICAN
MOLItSk.

TIE FRONT DOOR or 4 SoUrn AMERICAN
MoLLrsk
"ies We keep eve stones" said a New
York druggist but We don't have d call for
one once IN five wears Yet there must be
quite demand for them, for wholesale deal
rrs purchase all that are brough, them by
sailors who make business Of collecting
them on their voyages. Did you ever see
an eve stone ?"
No" said the reporter. But they are
found in the sfomachs Of crayfi,h. be-
lieve"
Then your belief i about as far wrong
as i, could be-" said the druggist. as he took
IA small bottle from a drawer |, was half
full Of what seemed 10 be very small, round.
Hat pieces OF polished bone. Emptying
few Of the pieces on the counter he piccked
one up and handed it to the reporter 10 ex-
anime. There was nothing notable about
the little bone except that one side was COM
posed Of numerous concentric grooves.
That is an eve stone" said the druggist,
pouring some liquid out Of a bottle onto
smooth plate and diluting it with water.
And this is a weak solution Of lime Juice"
The druggist took one Of the eve stones
and put il into the solution. Presently the
stone began 70 move as il il were alive. II
made lis way slowly about in different direc-
tions in the liquid in mysterious manner.
That strange movement of the eve stone
when placed in a weak solution of lime Juice
or vinegar has given rise among the ignor-
ant and supersutious people 10 the notion
that il has life, and that il loves vinegar,
and loves to swim in it above all things
But there is no more life in an eye stone
than there is in a paving stone. 1t is COM
posed Of calcareous material, and when
placed in the solutions named is made to
move about by carbonic acid gas, which is
envolved by the contact with the liquid acid
These little stones and all genuine eve
stones once were the front doors to the
shells Of little molluscous animal that
lives on Venezuelan and other South Amer
ican coasts. The shell is univalve This
calcareous formation is on the tip end OF the
little animal. and when he draws himself in
TO his she'll TO escape danger or 90 to sleep,
the end, of course, is the last part of him
that is drawn into the cavity or mouth Of
the shell, where it fits so closely and is so
hard that it affords perfect protection against
enemies from without. The native inhabi-
tants collect the eye stones in large quanti-
ties, anu reg ltu tuet Win great awe. Sall-
ors engaged on the fruit trading vessels that
visit these regions obtain the eye stones and
fetch them to New York for sale TO the
wholesale druggists.
"There are two little bones found in the
head Of the crayfish, just back of and be-
meath the eyes, which resemble the eve
stone, except that they are smooth all over.
These are called eyestones, and are used as
such in Ohio and other Western States, but
they have none of the virtues of the real
eye stone. The proper name for the stone
found in the crayfsh Is crab stones. In Pc
land and parts of Russia quite trade is
done in collecting crab stones. The cray
fish are buried in deep pits, and left there
until they rot. The refuse is then washed
and tie stones are picked out They are
used in many parts of Europe as a correct
i've of the stomach.
There is nothing better to remove for
eign substances from the eye than one of
these South American eye stones. Before
using them many people think it necessary
to put them in vinegar ito give them life,'
but it is not necessary. The stone is insert
ed at one corner of the eye, with the groov-
ed side next to the lid. The pressure of the
eyeball forces it to move about in the eye,
and the grooves collect the foreign matter
and retain it. After making thorough cir
cult of the eye the stone will come out at
the corner next the nose. No inconvenience
is caused by its presence in the eye."