Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-11-02
THE GLASS EYE.
1t is n Good Thing to Have n s.Stump''
Under 1t.

SusACE
From the London Standard
The cost Of an artificial eye made to
order varies from Sc to SIS. or even more
IL what is called complicated socket has
to be fitted. The average retail price of an
eye taken from stock is about s.. Prices
are considerably affected by the circum-
stances of the purchaser. reductions being
made to the very poor. and not infrequently
eyes even being supplied free Of charge in
cases where this is requested by a physi-
clan attached to an eye and ear infrmary.
AS to the causes which lead persons to
require artificial eyes. a manufacturer said
that in great majority of cases the loss
of the natural eye was due to accident. al
though, of course, there were others i'm
which it was brought about by disease
or the organ, an OccuiiSt removing the
eye chiefly affected in order to preserve the
sight of the other. Then, too. there were
persons who were blind of one eye from
birth. The accidents which produced the
loss OF an eye were of SO many kinds
that nobody was safe from them. A flying
iron filing or other bit of metal might i'm
bed itself in the eyeball of workman, or
any one might be hit in the eye with
stone or a hard snow bali. In one case
which the speaker knew of a man lost the
vision of an eye through peck from the
bill OF pet canary which he was letting
hop over his upturned face. Another in
not have been prevented. by any amount
OF care on the part Of its victim. "A little
girl was sitting on the stoop of her faith
er's house. when a man threw a stone at
dog In the street. The missile struck
| the edge of the sidewalk and so rebounded
as to hit one Of the childs eyes and ruin
. It's sight. 1t was a common mistake to
suppose that an operation for the removal
OF a sightless eye was necessary in order
to make room for an artificial one. On the
contrary, when person had a stump"
or blind, sunken eyeball 1t was the best
basis for glass eve which in this case
would be a very thin shell shaped to fit
the ball Moving as it did in accordance
with the motion of the organ beneath it,
such q vltreouS covering was the most
natural of all artificial eyes in appearance
me writer had an opportunity to gee
this statement illustrated, for while he
was IN the office of the manufacturer it
was entered by a young man who had a
blind eye as birth mark, and who came
TO have its glass shell replaced by new
one. His good eye, the right was a fine
one. large. we'll shaped, and in color a
pieasing shade of brown. The other, when
uncovered. was an unpleasant-looking OBJ
]ect, dull, shrunken, and half hidden by
a contracted eyeid. When it was covered
by the new SHE'LL however it appeared a.
duplicate of the right eye, and no one un-
acquslntsd with the facts would ever have
suspected that it was artificial, or have
observed anything peculiar about il.
Inc manufacture of glass eyes, accord
ing to the expert already quoted was in
troduced about 200 years ago, but it's EAR
ner pl oductS were crude in coloring and
in shape, the latter resembling the half
or an egg which has been divided length
WISE "A high degree of skill i'm the making
OF eyes to order for individuals was first
developed In Paris about seventy years
changes have been made in the methods or
the results.