Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-02-16

eyes every year. Great numbers of eyes
for toy figures and wax figures are re-
quired. Many thousands of skilled work
men in this country and abroad are en-
ployed in the production of these eyes of
all kinds, save only the human eyes, which
are German and French.
In the advertising list of a manufac-
turer of eyes for use by taxidermists you
will find mentioned artificial organs OF
sight for the jack rabbit, the cat, the Loop
ard, the wolf, the sheep, the lynx, the fox,
the coyote. the reindeer, the panther, the
st. Bernard dog. the seal, &c. Eyes are
likewise furnished for all sorts of birds,
including the eagle, the hawk, the loon, the
toucan, the horned owl, the woodcock, the
pigeon, the ibis, the ostrich, the sparrow
ard various sea birds Reptiles are not
neglected. There are eyes for all1gators
and other lizards, and also for the frog.
All of these are made of glass, from the
eye of the Bengal tiger to that Of the hum
ming bird. The best of them are quite
expensive and are exquisite counterfeits
of nature. Eyes are supplied even for
fishes.
Eyes for animals dolls, wax figures, are
all made by the same method. The pro-
cesses used are far more simple than those
employed in the manufacture of artificial
human eyes. The skilled workman is pro-
vided merely with glass stuff of different
ly utilized by the glassblower He takes
piece of wire a few inches long, and with
his blowpipe attaches to one end of 1t
small lump of black glass. revolving the
extremity of the wire in the flame of the
blowpipe until the bit of black glass has
assumed the form of round button. This
is the pupil of the eye that is to be.
How nm Eye IL Made.
Having permitted it to cool the work.
man next takes some transparent and col
orless glass, like window glass. and manip
uate5 it by means of the blowpipe, in the
flame of which he causes the button to
revolve. Thus is formed about the little
black button larger button Of clear glass
which is destined to represent the iris or
cClcred part of the eye surrounding the
pupil. But, as has been said, this glass
is colorIess. The color-yellow, brown or
of wha tever tint-is applied afterward with
mineral pigment. This paint is put on
the back of the button, which produces the
effect desired when the eye is looked at
from the front
eye of parrot is made. The button form
ed by the glassblower is convex in front
and hat the back. 1t goes next, the
wire having been cut off short, into the
hands of the operator who puts the paint
on the back to give the appearance of
color to the iris. In the case of the par
rot's eye the pigment is yellow, of course.
Naturally, some notifications of this
of other animals. For instance, the pupil
of the tigers eye is not round, but elon-
gated. like any other cats. Accordingly,
the black button must be made of cor
responding shape.
The eye of living tiger is one of the
most beautiful in the world. Its iris is
yellow, with such wavy markings as may
he diScerned in the colored part of a
human beings eye. These markings are
initiated with much ingenuity by the work
man who applies the paint. OF course, in
many animals a part of the white of the
eye is visible and so the artifcer finds
it necessary to add to his button of black
and clear glass some opaque glass at the
edges, and this he does very easily by
means of his blowpipe. Eyes for dolls
toy figures and all sorts of mankins are
made in the same fashion. In the adver-
Using list of the manufacturer one finds
"blind eyes" mentioned. These are made
to represent sightless organs of vision
One use to which they are put is in the
mounting of stuffed animals which are in
teresting as individuals and whose APPEAR
ance as they We're in life it is desired to
reproduce. This would apply to the case
of dog with history.
A Very Large Animal.
Once in while it is necessary to have
pair of eyes made to order for some animal
or other that is not represented in the
stock of the manufacturers. For example,
not long ago giant squid or calamary was
thrown up on a New England beach and
stranded. A cast was made of it in papier
mache, which is now exhibited at the Ma
tional Museum. 1t is only forty-five feet
long. The word only is used advisedly,
because these huge mollusks sometimes
attain a size enormously greater, each of
the two arms or tentacles having a reach
of as much one hundred feet. But the
eyes Of this specimen were as big as dim
ner plates, and they had to be reproduced
in glass. No other creature, living or eX-
tinct. ever had eyes SO big as those of the
hal
in size by the visual organs of the ich-
thyosauruS of the Mesozoic, which were in
a manner telescope, enabling that gigantic
lizard to see it's prey at great depths in the
ocean.
The artificial human eyes of commerce
are mostly made in Germany. They-that
is to say, those of German manufacture
are of glass. and their production may
fairly be said to represent the highest de-
veopment of the glass blowers art. The
beginning of the eye that is to be is a
little glass tube with a bulb in the middle.
One end of the tube is cut off, and the
opening thus made is sealed with the blow
pipe leaving hollow bulb on the end Of
the tube Obviously, the workman can en-
large the bulb as he pleases by blowing
into the tube. This he does gradually and
at intervals, meanwhile applying melted
glass of different colors to the extremity of
the bulb. First he puts on circular spot
Of blue brown for the iris. In the GEN.
ter of this he adds black dot for the pu-
Dill. By artistic manipulation he counter
feits those delicate effects of celebration
which may be observed with bright light
in human eye.
Skilled WOrkmen.
The processes employed are hardly sus-
ceptible of more complete description They
represent the know how of the artisan.
This is day in which artists and artisans
closely approach each other, so that it is
difficult to draw line between. A special
sort of glass is added to initiate the pecu-
liar whitish opacity of the white part of
the eye, and the tint of this varies some
what because the white of the eye in some
individuals is yelowish, while occasionally
it is blush. Even the little red veins that
are visible in the white portion are repro
duced. In short, the cour terfeit is most adj
mirable. Artificial eyes are far more gener-
ally worn than is commonly imagined, and
probably you have met many a person
thus provided whom you have not suS-