The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1912-01-04
ARTIFICIAL EYES.
The Art Of Making Them Resem
BILE Their Human Patterns.
MATCH IN SHAPE AND COLO,
They Fit the Ego Socket Perfectly ar
May Even Be Worn During sleepin
hours-Madc Of Glass, For Whic
No Substitute Has Vet Been Found

Germany leads all other countries {.
the manufacture Of artificial eyes
The American consul general Mt Co /
burg relates that probably ever since
the beginning of the world civilized /
people have endeavored 10 hide OF |
remedy any flaw in their appearance. |
such as the loss of an eye would |
cause. How this was done by the va
rious nations it is hard TO say, Up to
the present time no discoveries have
been made that would offer enlighten
mcnt on this subject. There are, it is
true, a few unauthenticated accounts
rs far back rs the middle ages, but
the first reliable report is given by the
French surgeon Ambrose Pare in 1860.
Two kinds OF artificial eyes were
known to him, the ekblepharos and
the hypoblepharos. The ekblepharos
was made by painting the eye and all
surrounding parts as far as the brows
on q plate. which was placed In front
of the eye socket and held In position
by string tied over the head. The
hypoblephuros was used in manner
similar to that of today, being put be-
hind the eyelid. in the eye socket it.
self, aud was composed OF metal
shell of copper. silver or gold. covered
with enamel and glass fusions.
! 1t was only at the close Of the eight
eenth century that these artificial eyes
| really became of practical use. 1t being
then found possible to do away with
| the metal shell altogether and employ
enamel and glass. The material used
was a soft lead glass, easily shaped,
but also easily destructible, and an
eye had to be renewed every three or
| four months to prevent the socket
from becoming affected
1t is known that in the middle of the
nineteenth century eyes were made by
enamelers in Dresden, Prague. London
and Stockholm. and in Thuringia. The
Thuringian makers were not enamel
ers. but glassbowers 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 n new technique
: in eye manufacture. Moreover, there
can now be produced all the charac-
: teristics of the human eye which had
been possible in enamel work. The
new prosthetic eye received the name
} reform eye" To be of value. how.
: ever. it must be made to exactly fit
the eve socket.
\ to In 10 riro 10 hn rn
form eve any form and color desired
| and in most cases it can be even worn
t at night. thereby preventing the lid
, from sinking into the socket and the
| lashes from sticking together Al
/ times attempts have been made to re-
, place the breakable glass by vulcanite
or cellu!oid. but such efforts have long
since been given up as useless.
In 1850 he method used in France
, for making eyes was Az follows: On
!, the broadly pressed end of a small
colorless, transparent rod of enamel
the pupil WAS first made. and the iris
was then formed OH this by means OF
a 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 Sc
made. glass tube. closed at one end
and of the color of the sclerotic, is
next blown into the form of an oval
and in he middle OF this hole is
melted. the edges of which are round
ed off evenly aud pressed n little out
ward The iris is then placed in this
opening and well melted in thick
coating of glass remains behind The
eye is rounded off. the projecting rim
of the white coat is smoothed with {;
metal rod. and this coat Is thereby
joined to the sclerotic. BY means of 9
J thin. pointed red rod the blood vessels
to be seen on the hard coat of tbs
: human eye are then melted in. The
super6uous back part of the eyehall /:
melted of, thereby giving to the eye
l the desired form. The eye is finally
placed Oh hot sand where II becomes
gradually cooled off.
Glass eyes are made in quite a diff
ferent manner in Lauscha. the center
of this industry in Germany. where
their manufacture is altogether &
house industry. The eyes are usually
made by one member of n family. ano
the art is handed down from one gen
GRAFTON to another. a gus flame is
used for melting the glass. A small
drop of white glass is put on the white
blown ball from which the sclerotic i
to be made and is then blown so rs Il
make circle about eight millimeters
(0.315 inchi in diaireter. On this cir
Gle the structure of the iris is built by
mems OF variously colored glass rods
A drop of LACK glass makes the pupil
Over the finished iris crystal glass is
melted in order 20 initiate the rornea
The further manufacture IS simiiar 1t
that given n the first description
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES