The Cairo bulletin., 1911-06-06
ARTIFICIAL. EYES
The Art Of Making Them Resen-
Bile Their Human Patterns.
MATCH IN SHAPE AND COLOR.
They Fit the Eye Socket Perfectly and
May Even Be Worn During Sleeping
Hours--Made Of Glass, For Which
No Substitute Has Yet Been Found.

Hours--Made Of Glass, For Which
No Substitute Has Yet Been Found.
Germany leads an other countries lii
The manufacture Of artificial eyes.
The American consul general at Co
burg relates that probably ever since
the beginning Of the world civilized
people have endeavored to hide or
remedy any flaw III their appearance,
such as the loss " an eye would
| cause. How this was done by the va
rious nations it Is hard to say. Up 10
the present time no discoveries have
been made thai Wuuid offer enlighseH-
ment on this subject There are, II Is
true, few ungnISlauticated accounts
as far back as ne middle ages, but
the first reliable report Is given W tho
French surgeon Atiiroise Pare In 1900.
Two kinds OF artificial eyes were
known to him. The rablepharos aud
the hypoblepiasaS. The ekblepharos
was made b. painting The eye and all
surrounding iar,s rs far as the brows
on IL plate, n hgl was placed in front
OF the eye soeket ara held In position
by string led ever rhe head The
hypoblephards WIS a@ed in manner
similar to THAI III today, being put be
hind the eyelid, III lie eye socket IL
SELF and was composed Of metal
shell of copper. silver Or gold, covered
with enamel and glass fusions.
II was oniy al The close OF the eight
eenth century that these artificial eyes
really became of practical use, it being
then found possible ~ do away with
the metal she'll altogether and employ
enamel and glass The material used
was soft load glass easily shaped.
but also easily detriictible, and an
eye had to be renewed every three or
four months to prevent the socket
from becoming affected
IL Is known that fl he middle OF the
nineteenth century eyes were made by
enamelers In Dresden. Prague, London
and Stockholm, and in Thuringa. The
Thuringian makers were not enamel
ers, but glassblowers working In con-
nection with the porcelain painting In
dustry, whose endless and untiring
experiment resulted in the discovery
of an Ideal material, cryolite glass. the
use of which led to new technique
In eye manufacture. Moreover, there
can now be produced all the charac-
teristics of the human eye which had
been possible III enamef work. The
new prosthetic eye received the name
reform eye" TO be of value, how
ever, 1t must be made to exactly fit
the eye socket
Today 1t Is possible to give to the re
form eye any form and color desired.
and in most cases 1t can be even worn
at night, thereby preventing the lid
from sinking into the socket and the
Iashes from sticking together At
times attempts have been made TO re-
place the breakabIe glass BY vulcanite
or celluloid. but such efforts have long
since been given up as useless.
In 1862 the method used In France
for making eyes was as follows On
the broadly pressed end Of a small,
colorless, transparent rod OF enamel
the pupil was first made, and the frs
was then formed on this by means OF
small, thin pointed, colored enameled
rod, the designing OF the iris being
made possible by melting the point Of
this rod.
In Paris the good eyes are now so
made. A glass tube, closed at one end
and of the color Of the sclerotic, Is
next blown into the form of an oval
and In the middle of this hole is
melted, the edges OF which are round
ed Off evenly and pressed little out
ward. The iris is then placed in this
opening and well melted in. A. thick
coating of glass remains behind. The
eye is rounded off, the projecting rim
of the white coat is smoothed with a
metal rod, and this coat is thereby
Joined to the sclerotc BY means of q
thin, pointed red rod the blood vessels
to be seen on the hard coat of the
human eye are then melted In. The
SApciAuOhS DdEh pulN VI lhS Sl GDdA4 10
melted off, thereby giving to the eye
the desired form. The eye is finally
placed on hot sand, where 1t becomes
gradually cooled or.
Glass eyes are made in quite a diff
ferent manner In Lauscha, the center
of this industry In Germany, where
their manufacture Is altogether Il
house industry The eyes are usually
made by one member Of a family. and
the art Is handed down from one gen.
GRAFTON to another A gas flame Is
used for melting the glass. A small
drop of white glass Is put on the white
blown bali from which the sclerotic IL
to be made and Is then blown so as 10
make q circle about eight miilimeters
OBS fnch In diameter On this cir
Gle the structure of the iris is built by
means of variously colored glass rods.
A drop Of black glass makes the pupil.
Over the finished iris crystal glass IL
melted In order to initiate the cornea.
The further manufacture is similar 70
that given In the frst description.