The 19th century was one of the most interesting periods in contemporary history, the rise of social movements, industrialization, increased schooling and scientific progress have led to a number of innovations, but also to the most diverse beliefs, including optography.
At a time marked by the emergence of one of the most famous serial killers of popular folklore (Jack the Ripper), the passion for the afterlife and the works of Sherlock Holmes, it is not surprising that some unconventional forensic currents have emerged.
- One of the most famous and controversial focused on solving the most heinous crimes in a very modern way right now: by revealing the last image seen by a person before he died.
Although today may seem absurd, it must be noted that at the end of the nineteenth century photography lived its moment of maximum splendor, considered by much of society to be literally exotic, mysterious and even magical.
Therefore, it is not surprising that some experts had the idea of creating a science based on this discipline: optography.
According to its etymology, the word comes from the union of the Greek terms opto – ?????(from view), and grapho – ????? (write). It was officially used in 1877 at the University of Heidelberg in southwestern Germany.
The name of the optography was invented by a professor of physiology named Wilhelm Friedrich Khune, who was interested in an original theory presented by another colleague: Franz Christian Boll.
The physiologist argued that, inside the retina, there was a pigment that fades with light and reappears with darkness.
This discovery opened up a new world of hypotheses and theories that promised to revolutionize forensic medicine. In this study, he was convinced that it would be possible to determine the identity of any killer by analyzing the retina of the corpse.
The last image seen by him would give him the keys to find the culprit, simply remove the retina and try to keep the last image stored in the eye with chemicals.
The optograms (as these images were called) had been analyzed more than a hundred years earlier. The foreman, Brother Christopher Schiener, discovered the last sight of a frog midway through the dissection of a frog before his death.
This vision left him with a profound impression and laid the groundwork for the study of this controversial practice.
If Khune’s intention was correct, the same could not be said of his methods, they were morally dubious, cruel and disturbing, which did not seem to worry him, the optography had come to change the world!
Their analyses consisted of catching certain animals, such as small frogs and rabbits, and forcing them to observe extremely bright objects for long periods of time. When time ran out, I beheaded them.
He quickly took off his eyes and took them to a dark, closed room, cut off the part of the retina, removed the pigment and put himself in a chemical solution to preserve it.
“Science never solves a problem without creating ten more. “George Bernard Shaw.
These atrocities would have been less common without the fact that in some cases they worked. Specifically, one of the most famous experiments in Khone involved a rabbit, whose last view from a window was captured (satisfactorily) satisfactorily.
Countless animals have been used in these experiments, practices that are now rapidly reported, but at such an important time for medicine and biology, animal suffering was not considered a relevant topic.
In 1880, however, the physiologist’s greatest desires came true: the beheading of an accused accused of murdering his family allowed him to experiment, for the first time, with human retinas.
The result of the pigment analysis showed, according to Khune, the last image seen by the prisoner: the guillotine leaf. Some contemporaries rejected this hypothesis and suggested it might be another image, but the original idea prevailed.
A year later, he published a book entitled “Observations for the Anatomy and Physiology of the Retina”, in which he again praised the success of his experiment. However, there is currently no scientific evidence that favorable results have been found.
Over the years, forensic doctors and police officers have ended up eliminating this type of analysis as unfounded, but this did not prevent the theory from becoming an urban legend destined to endure centuries in the collective imagination.
Numerous books, films and series continue to explore the myth of optography; Famous writers such as Rudyard Kypling and Jules Verne have found an important vein in these stories, as well as in some television formats, such as Dr. Who.
Human beings cannot resist the guilty pleasure of the macabre. It is up to us to use our skills with wisdom and civilization, because the future responsibility for making these discoveries will be ours.
Science hides many secrets and we, like restless animals, will have the task of discovering them.