In the novel he is the one to first describe Erik, saying, "He is extraordinarily thin and his dress-coat hangs on a skeleton frame. His eyes are so deep that you can hardly see the fixed pupils. You just see two big black holes, as in a dead man's skull.
In the novel, he introduces Erik by saying, "He is extremely thin and his dress-coat hangs on a fragile frame. His eyes are deeply set, making it hard to distinguish the fixed pupils. You can only see two large black voids, like in a skull of a deceased person.