Omaha daily bee., 1896-03-08
THE FIELD % ELECTRICITY
Important Experiments to Be Made at the
New York Exposition.
TESLA TESTS ELECTRICAL OSCILLATION
brooklyn Man Survives n shock OF
$500 Voits-Etcctricity I'm Dem
observation-disclosures in
other Directions.

witness the new method OF photographing
through solids at the electrical exposition to
be held in New York City in May in con-
nection with the nineteenth convention of
the National Electric Light association. Mr..
Edison has generously offered to send to
the exposition his most powerful and i'm
proved apparatus for making ~shadowgraphs
and his own corps Of laboratory assistants
to operate the same. MIR. Edison has sue
ceeded in making a picture through eight
inches Of yellow pine, and he anticipates
no trouble whatever in making instantane-
Gus s~hadowgraphs.
MIR. Edison will also send to the EXPOSE
ton his large. collection Of experimental APP
paratus and designs pertaining to his nu-
merous inventions, much of which has never
yet been shown to the public.
Nicola Tesla has written an interesting
letter to the Detroit Free Press in answer
to a question concerning his experiments
with electrical oscillation. 1t is as follows:
During the past few weeks / have received
so many letters concerning the same sub
ject that IL was entirely beyond my power
to answer all CT them individually. In view
OF this | hope that I shall be excused for
the delay, which | much regret, in acknowl-
edging the receipt, and also for addressing
this general c-mmun cation in answer to
all Injuries.
THE many pressing demands which have
been made upon me in consequence of ex-
aggerated statements Of the journals have
painfully impressed me with the fact that
there are a great many sufferers, and fur
thermore that nothing finds a m.re powerful
echo than a promise held out to improve
the condition of the unfortunate ones.
THE members Of the medical fraternity
are naturally more deeply interested in the
task of relieving the suffering from their
pain, and, as might be expected, a great
many communications have been addressed
to me by physicians. To these chiefly this
brief statement of the actual facts is adj
dressed.
Some journals have COMPOUNDED the phys
illogical effects OF electrical oscillations with
those Of mechanical vibrations, this being
probably due to the circumstance that u
few years ago l brought to the attention
of scientific men some novel methods and
apparatus for the production of electrical
oscillations which, l learn, are now largely
used in some modifcat,o on or ether in electro
therapeutic treatment and otherwise. To dis
pei this erroneous idea l wish to state that
the effects of purely mechanical vibrations
which l have more recently observed have
nothing TO do with the former.
Mechanical vibrations have often beer
employed locally with pronounced results in
the treatment of diseases, but it seems thai
the effects l refer to have either not beer
noted at all, or, II so, only in a small dc.
gree, evidently because of the insufficiency
of the means which have eventually beer
employed in the Investigations.
MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS.
"While experimenting with a novel con
%trivance, constituting In it's simplest form
a vibrating mechanical system, in which
from the nature OF the construction the ap
piled force is always in resonance with thu
natural period, l frequently exposed my bod,
to continued mechanical vibrations. AS tn
elastic force can he made as. large as de
sired and the applied force; need be yer,
small, great weight, half a dszen persons
for instance, may be vibrated with grea
rapidity by a comparatively small apparatus
II Observed that such intense mechanics
vibrations produce remarkable physiological
| effects. They affect powerfully the conditio
Of the stomach. undoubtedly promoting tn
process Of digestion and relieving the feel
] ing of distress often experienced in conse
quence of the imperfect function of the OF
gans concerned in the process of digestion
: They have a strong influence upon the live
I causing it to discharge freely, similarly
D an application of a cathsrtic. They ais
seem to affect the glandular system, notabl
. in the limbs; also the kidneys and bladde,
and more or less influence the whole bod!
When applied for a longer period they pr
duce a feeling of immense fatigue, so tn;
a profound sleep is induced.
THE excessive firing of the body Is gel
: orally accompanied by nervous relaxation
but there seems to be, besides, a specif
!, acton OH the nerves.
d These observations, though incomplete. ar
in my own limited judgment, neverthele!
positive and unmistakable. and in view
this and of the Importance of further invei
e tigation Of the subject by competent me
@ I prepared about a year ago a machine wit
suitable adjustments for varying the FRI
quency and amplitude Of the vibrations. IL
tending to give 1t to some medical facult
c for investigation. This machine, togeth'
p with other apparatus, was unfortunately de
stroyed by a fire a year ago, but will |
Y reconstructed as soon as possible.
Sin making the above statements I wish
disccnnect myself with the extraordinaI
"piniona expressed In some journals, whiC
I have never authorized, and which, thong
y they may have been made with good inten
cannot fail to be bWtful by giving rise
visionary expectations. Yours very truly,
It IN. TESLA"
e A TREMENDOUS SHOCK.