The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1895-03-23
THE KINETf)SCl)PE.
Recent uees oe tho Invention !,
the study of Dtaease.


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amount Of popular interest, resembles
some Of Mr.. Edisons inventions In being
really IN improvement on or m adapta-
ton Of discoveries Of other men. This
In no way implies that the fame Of the
American inventor II tlndeserved. On
the cootrary, it Is due to his genius
that mere experiments Of scientists
have been converted into things OF real
and lasting benefit to civilization. Sir
Humphrey Davy discovered that car
bon could be rendered incandescent in
. current Of electricity, and that oxygen
consumed the carbon; but It remained
for Edison to exclude oxygen and to
give the electric light to civilization.
The main essentials of the phonograph
were In use before Edison conceived
the Mee Of making practical use OF
tho machine. Tho Muybridge photo
graphs were tho forerunners OF the
kinetoscope.
It has been proclaimed, says the Bos-
ton Advertiser, that the time is now at
hand when books and theaters will be-
come rarities, and the average citizen
VIII be content to use the phonograph
and the kinetoscope for his pleasure.
Such prediction Is over-sanguine, as
yet, for the reason that these inven-
tions are not yet perfect. The beauty
Of concerted music or Of rare singing is
still marred by the electric whir and
the false sounds that issue from the
phonographs diaphragm. The splen-
did color and dazzling luster Of the
operas stage are yet beyond the grasp
Of the kinetoecope. Perhaps these
things may come some day, but they
have not come yet, and in the meantime
the present generation is concerned
chiefly with the things Of to-day. The
telephone, for instance, is OF more inn
mediate use to civilization than are
tho phonograph and kinetoscope COM
bined.
Science has already found certain
uses for Mr.. EdisonS later inventions,
however. The phonograph counter
feits permanently many sounds that
arc useful to therapeutics; the normal
and unsound heartbeats, ''rales' in the
lungs, certain vocal sounds depending
upon special conditions of the throat
and tonsils. It Is of decided benefit to
science to have permanent records that
can always be Of easy access without
recourse to . special patient. In the
same way the kinetoecope promises to
be Of great utility to medical science by
reproducing physical action that can
be studied II detail or comprehensively
as the student desires. In this city
some effort in that direction has already
been undertaken, aud more will be de-
veloped from time to time, especially in
nervous disorders that bring on certain
physical action that il often 60 violent
and vigorous - to baiie any attempt 1t
close study BY means Of the unaided
eye.
The Muybridge photographs showed
some years ago that the eye was unre-
liable for the detection of tho absolute
details Of rapid animal motion. In
stantaneous photography alone gives q
correct representation OF the different
attitudes taken by men or animals in
rapid action, and It Il quite possible
that medical science may achieve fresh
discoveries by tho help of the kineto-
scope. Thus, in studying the muscular
action that results from certain nerve
disorders, II may be possible to trace
the nerves which are affected. Even in
lea complicated cases, like lameness, q
surgeon may b able 10 reach conclus-
Ions with great quickness and certainty
BY securing the details Of muscular
action Of the affected limb, as the speed
, OF the kinetoscope may be regulated at
win. Altogether, then, while the repro
ductjon Of grand opera for the multi.
tude may be . matter Of the remote
future, the kinetoscope is something OF
more ne to civilization than mere
pictorial toy. ,