IMPROVING THE RACE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 3430, 25 September 1885, Page 3

IMPROVING THE RACE.

Of all modern surgical operations, that recently performed by Dr Chabret m Paris is (tho New York l'imcn Bays) perhaps the most remarkable. He removed a diseased eye from a young girl and replaced it with the eye of a rabbit. The transplanted eye has accepted the situation, and promises to bo an efficient substitute for the lost one. Of course it may differ m foc.il length from the girl's original oyc, but that is a defeot that can be remedied by spectacles. This oporation is apparently destined to put an end to blindness among men. Hitherto the loss of an eye has been irreparable, but if our misting eyes oan be made good, by

, the cyca of the lower animals, no one I > meil be without a pair of good, substantial eyes. The Bupply of eyes which can > bo made use of for this purpose is inj exhaustible, and as tho cost of production t is practically nothing, the coat of supply- [ ing oneself with new eyes will be very [ smill. Not only can blindness be thus . ronderod unnecessary, but persons who , have lost their original eyes can more . than supply their loss. In fact, wo can . all greatly improve our powers of vision ■ by providing ourselves with choice and i desirable eyes. The efficiency of tho . police force would obviously be greatly incronscd were every policeman to '■ be supplied with a pair of cat's eyes. Ho would then be enabled to see a cashier or other criminal on the darkest iii-^ht, without the aid of a lantern, while his eyea would be at least as valuable m the daytime as are ordinary police eyes. The oyea of hawks and other far-seeing birds would be of immense advantage to sailors and other persona whoso occupation mnkes unusually good eyes necessary, and it is probable that within the ' next few years no sailor will be able to J receive an officer's certificate unless he ' can prove that he 13 supplied with the ' standard marine- eye — whether that may J bo the eye of a hawk, an eagle, or j a crow. For purposes of personal adornment the new plan of supplying '. girls with beautiful eyes ia sure to be . popular. What man could resist the F pleading gaze of a girl wearing a pair of ) setter's eyea, or the eyes of a deer ? 1 What could be more attractive than a girl s with tho eyes of a pink rabbit ? The eyes 1 of a Skyo terrior would be just tho tiling ' for girls who wear their hair banged, and the eyes of an owl would bo very appropriate for girls who are fond of moonlight excursions. Of course, tho feminine fashion m eyes will change from ■ time to time, and setters' eyes, which nmy be fashionable next year, may bo decided to bo vulgar n, year later when peacocks' eyea couio into fashion. Indeed, it will probably be necessary for a fashionable lady to change her eyes with her dress, and wa shall hear disparaging remarks made of this or that girl to tho effect that she is wearing the same 1 old eyes that she wore at Mrs Smith's ! party last winter. Long ago it was discovered that teeth, hair and skin could ' be transplanted. Now that we have ' learned that we can wear the eyes of animals, there is reason to believe that wo cau supply ourselves from the same source with other organs. What an unspeakable benefit it would be to the frequenter of. boarding-houses could ho provide himself with tho stomach of a genuine ostrich. Ho could then eat boarding-house steak or spring chicken as easily and comfortably as he could eat a croquette of carpet or a fillet of brick.