The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-08-12
GLASS EYES FOR
MN AND BEAST
$4,000 Pairs of Eyes Sold in
United States Annually.
OF MANY QUALITIES
How the Art Is Used in Manu-
faCture.


Take this fact into consideration when
ever you meet person who seems de-
termined to stare at you out OF counte-
nance for that person may be one of the
! glass-eyed legion.
Throughout the United States, all told,
| $1,000 glass eyes are sold every year, OF
| which 1000 pass through the hands Of
firm of opticians in Chambers street, says
the New York Press. From 1900 to 15,O0)
| of these eyes are manufactured here in
New York City AM nearly all of them
are in high quality. The cheaper shell
eyes are imported.
Artificial human eyes come in several
/ qualities. of which the best made is the
| Gumbert Common stock eyes can be
| bought in Europe at prices ranging from
half a mark to 20 marks. Eyes of higher
! erice are, however. usually made TO or
| der. In America glass eyes retail any
where from 3to SIS each. the latter price
being for the finest product made to order
| in this country, special care being taken
10 match the colors of the false eye with
! those of it's natural mate. New York OPP
| ticians say that the glass eye made here
| are better than nine-tenths of those
which are imported
The art of making glass eyes is deli
cate and difficult one. and is hardly ever
mastered in one generation. 1t is one OF
| the hereditary arts, so that the best max
| ers are those brought up to the business
| from childhood, whose fathers and grand
| fathers before them followed the same
| business. Individual eye-makers-that is.
those who make eyes to order for Gus
tomers-are found in many European
| countries, but only in Germany is the
manufacture of eyes a regular industry.
There they are made in large quantities
| for export About twenty-five firms in
! Germany make this business a speciality.
and most of them cluster in and about the
district of Thuringen. With regard to the
! sizes. shapes and colors of eyes. the eye
maker works on much the same plan as
the maker of ready-made clothes. Expe-
| rience and knowledge of anatomy are his
guides.
In making the eyes a Benson slowpipe
| is used and the artist has before him on
a small table many tubes of glass, large
and small, some Of the latter being col
| ored He takes tube of white glass,
| which forms the cornea of the eye. This
| is blown into a round bulb With piece
| Of colored glass. gradually molten onto
the bulb. the iris is made. the whole be-
| ing twirled continually in the flame. so
that the iris becomes perfectly round,
and then the eye pupil of black glass is
molten into the center Of the iris, and
some more colored glass over this again
to give the pupil the deep-lying appear
ance II has in nature.
The cooring of the iris is an exceed
ingIy delicate operation. as the colored
glass must be fused in such a way as to
give the appearance of the very fine mus
| cles of which the natural iris is composed.
Although in many instances the natural
| iris looks like solid color. yet upon close
| inspection one finds il IS composed Of
many fine muscles, and this effect is what
the latter artists will reproduce.
To represent the small red veins thin
hairs of ruby glass are next melted into
| the corner When these operations have
been finished, a film of transparent glass
is molten over the whole, which creates
the appearance of the conjuctiva of the
| natural eye. The eye is now ready to be
shaped. after which is undergoes extern
SlNe ana repeated duHtdilHS.
The cooring of the eye IS reproduced by
| blending different colors of glass in much
the same way a painter blends his colors
to get certain effects. However, the
artist who makes glass eyes is under
greater difficulties tina nthe painter who
mixes his colors and sees the result at
once. The eye artist must take various
colors and melt them In while the whole
mass is red-hOt. and his knowledge OF the
| blending Of colors must tell him what the
result will be when the mass has cooled.
for Il is only after the eve is thoroughly
cooled that he can be certain that the
desired coloring has been attained.
In shaping the eye according 10 any
given sample the artist must work with a
sure hand. The eve must be absolutely
right the first time or all the work is
wasted. An eye once cooled can never
| into pieces If it were
AS regards size. human ewes are made
| anywhere from one-half inch 10 two inch
Sc in diameter The average size is from
one to one and one-fourth inches. This
| IS not controlled entirely by the natural
size Of the eve, but 20 some extent by the
state in which the operation Of enucleat-
ing or cutting out the eye has left the
sccrzet. II the socket IS clear and clean.
Il will take a much larger eye than II Il
growth has formed after the operation
Up 10 within = year or two ago artih
| Cfal eyes were for the most part hollow
shells Recently the new full-back re
| fora" eve has largely supplsnted the old
style TIE advantage Of the new shape
( Is that the full-bacS watches the muscles
ar6 gives 2 surprising Increase II motion.
producing life-like expression. Having n
| irritat'na e.ges. IL feels more comfortable
nd has no hollow back TO gathe- secre-
| tio.:s Moreover as It completely fius TIRE
| o-bit Il ..vercoues the stInken appea. ance
| REGULAR 10 the oid-fashioned glass syss.
and so ~ ~ matches the natural eve In
luster cua color than the deccrtson IS
hard TO detect.
| In cases vnere the eyebzu has ~ ossn
removed the old style shell must be Used
/ II cover the eyehan. An artificial eve
made 70 TT right should cause 10 pam
OF irritation TO the wearer.
/ Mere men wear artificial eye than
/ women. inasmueh as they are more re
| q1en,lv injured through working IN dan
rerous places. Ike iron found %. Ard
| mines In Pit;sburg and vioiaity more
sl-ss ewes are needed IN proportion %
| POI uIotlon than IN any other one $40;
| in the country. good many Children
are nowadays supplied Sf,h fare eyes
They not infreaaen;fy injurs ar ~ye 30