Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1888-04-06
ARTIFICIAL EYES.
THE WEARING AND MAKING OF
GLASS SUBSTITUTES,
One Person in Every Four Hun.
dred Has a Glass Eye
How People Lose
Their Optics.

:. Writing about artificial eyes, a con-
tributor to the Brooklyn Ctti.ea says that
one person in every 400 wears a glass
substitute. In population of a million,
he continues, there are, allowing five per.
sons on an average to each family, 400,
900 adults. OF adults then, there are
1000 who wear glass eye. of children
and youngpe people there are 600, 900. Why
do l consider the children2 Perhaps
some one would be inclined to believe
that children do not wear artificial eyes.
but they do. Cculists supply them and
ophthalmic surgeons treat them quite as
frequently as they do adults One op-
ticlan told me he had fitted with a glass
eye, the day before l called upon hun,
child not yet three years old.
Again applying the same proportion of
one In 400 to the GOO, 600 persons who
cannot be called adults, we have 1900.
This, added to 500, gives 1850. Twenty
nve hundred persons with glass eyes in
l,oOO, 600 population. Mixed in with
the crowds, they seem few.
The history of artificial eyes, or at
least OF something to conceal the loss of
one OF them, seems, as far as any history
can be traced, to date back to the time
when Egypt was a flourishing country.
That was two centuries before the
Christian era. DR.. Jetfrics says: 1.-THE
manufacture of artificial eyes has always
been trade by itself. The various
precious metals were used in their con-
struction, such as gold and silver, and
aiterWard copper and ivory. Patriotic
cltlzens have carried them to the public
treasury as an offering in time of war or
general distress. In Europe they were
naturally somewhat of a rarity till the
invention of porcelain eyes in the six
teenth century.
Nowadays an artificial eye is made of
glass or enamel, and is little thin, light
shell formed to represent the front of the
.eyeball. Though of great delicacy and
needtul of considerable skill, their manu-
tacture is quite simple. That part which
is intended to initiate the sclerotic, or
white of the eye, is made of white
efamel, tinged with yellow. THE
posterior lamina Of the central piece is
colored and streaked to look like the iris
or colored part of the eye. On the middle
OF this lamina a circular patch Of black
enamel is lad to initiate the pupil, and
the superficial lamina is of transparent
glass. Threads of red enamel are spread
over the surface, in imitation of blood
vessels, and are melted in before the
blowpipe"
of shades and colors great variety is
made, the shape and size also vary CON
slderably. Thus from large collection
selection of one which would match
correctly the sound eye might be made,
but it is much better to have one made
especially, and so fitted and matched
perfectly. This is the method usually
adopted.
1t is about an even thing between dis.
ease and accident which is the most pro-
life cause of loss of the eye. Of the
local diseases there are many, of sympa-
thetlc many Others, and of diseases not
local number more. The local and
sympathetic diseases are wholly within
the field OF the opthalmic surgeon, and
without that of newspaper article.
The accidental causes are many and
often almost unaccountable. A fying
splinter, bit of iron hurled through the
air. often causes the subsequent neces-
sary removal of the eve. Of course the
disease or accident itself does not re-
move the eye the opthalmic surgeon
performs that operation.
Whenever an eye becomes diseased or
is injured, so as to cause partial or total
blindness, and even though not painful
or causing more inconvenience than the
mere inability to see from it, it fire.
quently occuIs that precaut;on demands
removal. This is for fear of what is
termed sympathetic Inflammation of the
sound eye. Obviously it is better to have
one sound eye than none. When one
sound eye has been affected, the other
one is In danger, because they are con-
nected with each other intimately. When
an injury to one eye causes severe pain or
any inflammation, the surgeon finds it
should be removed, for the other sound
eye will sooner later feel the influence of
the diseased eye and possibly become
blind in consequence of neglect. The
operation of enucleation of the eyeball is
not painful under ether and is very short
and need not be feared, as it generally is.
AS precautionary measure, also, it is
best that the eye be removed.
1t IS among men more than among
women that eyes are lost through acct
dent, for reasons obvious. A woman is
not exposed to the dangers by reason of
her manner of life that man encoun-
ters daily. 1t is generally only from dis
ease the woman's eye can come to grief.
Disease often does affect the eve and
hence there are many women who wear
glass eyes.
In this country there are but two men
who manufacture eyes-a father and his
son in New York. They are very skill
full workmen and the surgeons in the
larger cities send their patients to them
to be supplied. Glass eyes cost money,
and the owner of one is subjected all his
life to expense. One once bought, unlike
pair OF spectaeles, will not last for
years. The original cost of the operation
varies, of course, with the wealth of the
patient and standing of the surgeon.
The operation performed, the eve must
be purchased. The optician will charge
for the fitting and setting of the first eye
about $40. After that time the eyes Will
not cost SO much, possibly half as much.
1t is always best to have one extra eve,
at least, for they are apt to break when
being removed, or crack when subjected
to sudden atmospheric changes.