20^1. The West Americmi Scientist. 



recollects that some years since they were sold as low as $ii each 

 at Leavitt's, in this city. Mr. Curtis continues, "that, having 

 learned from a young lady in New York that they were sometimes 

 used in jewelry, he determined to procure some for a necklace. 

 This he did without difficulty, most of the eyes being obtained at 

 Arica, Peru." 



Prof. Baird also informs me that the so-called mummies' eyes 

 are well known, and that the first he ever saw were brought to the 

 United States from Peru by Lieut. Gillis about thirty years ago. 

 Professor Baird adds that they are, without question, the crystal- 

 line lenses of the eyes of a species of cuttle fish (squid). This 

 view is corroborated by Prof. Verrill, who says there is a large 

 squid, very common on the Peruvian coast, the lens of the eyes 

 of which is about as large as these so called mummies' eyes. 



Some of the lenses from the eyes of these cuttle fish measure 

 only 5 mm., but the majority of them are 12 mm. in diameter, and 

 some as much as 18 mm. The color, really only the result of age, 

 is a dark amber yellow or golden bronze externally on the con- 

 vex side. In all cases they are nearly opaque, and have the ap- 

 pearance of an onion skin or any other sack-like concretion. On 

 the flat side, however, the color is much lighter, and a little play 

 of light is noticeable. The surface is rough, as if an exudation 

 had hardened on it. The structure of the lenses is like that of a 

 pearl, an aggregation of successive enveloping layers, which are 

 marked on the surface by sets of concentric rings. It is also plain, 

 from these rings, that the lenses are sections, constituting only 

 about one-half of the original lenses of the fish, the intention un- 

 doubtedly being to produce additional luminous effect by this series 

 of hemispherical reflectors. 



The crystalline lens of a human eye would not be so large as 

 even the medium sized lens exhibited here this evening, and is so 

 exceedingly delicate that it can only be preserved at all by the 

 greatest care. 



In many fishes, and especially the cuttle fish fsquid), the lens of 

 the eye contains so much solid matter that it will dry up in a short 

 time, and with very little contraction, into a hard, transparent 

 mass, which would probably be durable. 



On the contrary, Prof. Raimondi, the most eminent ethnologist 

 of Peru, believes these eyes to be human, and Dr. Tschudi, of 

 Vienna, is said to support him in this theory. 



The region where these mummy eyes are found is rainless, and 

 the mummies were dried in a sitting posture in the salty sand or 

 the nitre beds, often thousands of them at one place. This being 

 the case, they must have been exposed to the public gaze, and the 

 embalmers would naturally wish to make the appearance of the 

 dead as attractive as possible. Hence it is probable that the cut- 

 tle fish eyes, which were inserted into the empty sockets, were cut 



