The herald., 1898-12-25
IMAGES IN EYES OF THE DEAD
Scientific Experiments Give Rise to
Absurd Stories

The popular notion that the eyes of the
dead sometimes retain complete images of
scenes that have been enacted before them
at the moment of death has received fan
ced confirmation in late years by expert
ment, and there are some who, from read
ing careless or exaggerated accounts Of
these experiments, might get an impression
that science had placed upon this notion
the stamp of approval. The following note
from the Lancet Qondon) gives us the very
small modicum of truth that is the basis of
all such stories. 1t says:
Under the title of In Dead Eyes an
evening contemporary recently made
statement which carries its own confutation
with it. 1t is to the effect that physician
and enthusiastic photographer, being de-
sirous of testing the amount of truth in the
theory that dead eyes retain complete i'm
ages, had carefully examined the eyes of
hundreds of dead people, and, though he
had never seen anything like distinct pic
ture mirrored, he had certainly distinctly
traced both letters and objects on the iris of
the eye, and that when the Photographic
test was applied, these images became visi
BILE. In one case capital letter of peculiar
form was shown, which could be traced to
a testament held in the hands shortly before
death. In another case a numeral was dis
tinctly pictured, which was traced to a
clock face in the room. The article in
question continues: "The chief scientific pa
per of France only the other day gave full
particulars of case where woman who
died in one of the hospitals had two num-
bers, 10 and 45, mirrored IN the iris of her
eyes,
"These absurd stories originate in the
well known experiments of Kuhne on the
visual purple of the retina, in the course
of which he showed that by making special
arrangements the crossbars of a window
focused on the retna could be brought into
relief. The enthusiastic photographer, if
he be not misquoted, ought to have known
that no well defined images of the external
world are cast upon the iris and none, there
fore, could be preserved The surface Of
the iris is far too uneven to act as a mirror.
Moreover, as no arrangements were made
to prevent the further action of light after
death, they would, if formed, be certainly
obliterated as the image on Photographic
plate would be if permanently exposed.
The only mode in which an image impressed
on the retina could be rendered visible
ould be to adopt the method of Kuhne,
namely, by exposing the eye previously kept
in the dark for minute or two to an IL
Illuminated object, then extirpating it, open
ing it, and Immediately plungng it into
solution of alum. The image develops in the
course of twenty-four hours"
->%<
For some time past the drink question has
been exciting among thoughtful persons in
Belgium serious reflections, and the figures
collected by Jules lie Jeune, ex-minister of
justice, certainly justify them. The popula-
ton of Belgium is still less than 100000,
although it will soon pass that total, but
it can boast of l9S,0O0 wine and beer shops,
or one for every thirty-five persons, women
and children included. The total drink
bill of the country is valued per annum
at f2O,0O0,O00. This expenditure does not
represent all the loss to the country. To
it have to be added the loss of time the
deterioration in the quality Of the work
and the absolute incapacity for work that
follows in the train of excessive drinking
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