Six months did Thomas remain confined to his bed; and during that time he not only became reduced to a skeleton, but seemed also to have lost the use of his faculties. Every remedy that could be thought of was tried in his behalf; but although the physicians succeeded in curing the physical malady, they could not remove that of the mind; so that when he was at last pronounced cured, he was still afflicted with the strangest madness that was ever heard of among the many kinds by which humanity has been assailed. The unhappy man imagined that he was entirely made of glass; and, possessed with this idea, when any one approached him he would utter the most terrible outcries, begging and beseeching them not to come near him, or they would assuredly break him to pieces, as he was not like other men but entirely of glass from head to foot.
(Miguel de Cervantes: The Licenciate Vidriera. See also this post on Claw of the Conciliator.)
The bank had been modernized. It was a transparent young lady who waited on him. It wouldn't have startled him in any of the other worlds, but it did at home.
"I am unsure," he said. "Are you people?"
"I also am unsure," said the young lady, "since our position is presently under litigation. Actually we are the newest thing in people. Soon there will be none produced in the old manner. You will have to admit that it was a very grotesque arrangement."
(R. A. Lafferty: Space Chantey)
Plants and minerals, seas and athmospheric vapors here enjoy an absolute transparecy. Only the humans and higher animals stand out clearly above that whole by the opaline transparency of their bodies. Only their eyes, constructed like ours, are of an entirely opaque white. The muscles of that human race have the appereance of fibrous fasciculus, or amianthus. The blood which flows through their arteries is similar to lymph; the veinous blood seems to be of chyle or milk.
Despite a complexion offering in all its parts the vitreous appearance of a milky opal, the men of Élier are large, agile, and well proportioned. The women, a little smaller, are delicate and slightly diaphanous.
(C. I. Defontenay: Star)
The first symptom is a scaliness of the skin; itch, flakes upon the clothing, inflammation. There follows a weakness in the bones as the calcium is dissolved. One grows limp and rubbery, but this is still an early phase. Soon the outer tissues harden. Thick, opaque membranes form on the surface of the eyes; the nostrils may close and seal; the skin grows coarse and pebbled. In this phase prophecy is common. The sufferer partakes of the skills of a Somnambulist, and utters oracles. The soul may wander, separating from the body for hours at a time, although the life-processes continue. Next, within twenty days after the onset of the disease, the crystallization occurs. While the skeletal structure dissolves, the skin splits and cracks, forming shining crystals in rigid geometrical patterns. The victim is quite beautiful at this time and takes on the appearance of a replica of himself in precious gems. The crystals glow with rich inner lights, violet and green and red; their sharp facets adopt new alignments from hour to hour; the slightest illumination in the room causes the sufferer to give off brilliant glittering reflections that dazzle and delight the eye.
(Robert Silverberg: Nightwings)
I suppose a quote from Ballard's The Crystal World would belong in this post, but I haven't read that book yet.
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