The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-05-10
USES OF ROENTGEN RAYS.
MORE WONDERFUL AHD MORE INs
IERESTING At EpERr NEW REV.
what the Discovery Amounts 60 and whne
~ IL Iikeiv 60 10 for Surgery ana
rath~ot"Ey-ProE Oiiver Lodges surrs
ming Up OF what we Know About It.

~ - NsNlaNlN w bO ~ surgery nn0
Pstho,"Ey-rroE Omver Lodges sum.
minE Up OF what we Know About It.
From me saturday Rc,tew.
II will he my endeavor In this Paper 10 give
some precise account Of the Rocntren rays,
Of thelr qualities, their mode NJ action. and ot
the uses TO which they nay he put. The
notable property OF l%iocntgen RAYS l. not that
they traverse Opaque matter. hut that they
travel In straight lines while doing 30. Or
binary opacity has reference merely to tho
physical agent which appeals to tho retina; but
physicists are aware Of many other varieties OF
radiation, and some Of these have long been
known tn I've capable Of penetrating such
things as wt,od aud cbonitc. or even brick md
'tone. without muct. difficulty. Indeed, sound
Is n Kind OF radiation with which every one Is
familiar, and no one c. poets ordinary optical
transparency and opacity to govern the trans
instability NJ sound.
hut no hitherto known kind OF radiation was
able TO traverse ohli1ucly.sot material boun-
DIARIES without being DETECTED from its strategic
pnth. nor was any known kind Of radiation
able TO plunge through a mass OF irregular sub
stance witho out being scattered by repeated
reflections The radiation first studied by
Lcnnrd md now developed hv Roentgon suf-
fers no rcfc,tion, or next to none. when 10
enters dense matter. nor IL II bent or deviated
by any irregularltics IN shape: II plunges
'"'hh WI ~ ~ 'tlEI INV Hllll u tntTRN
hns been all absorbed. What becomes Of tho
energy II is premature to say IL may turn into
heat In the orthodox way. or Il may hc COM
sumo. in producing chemical association.
Tho immediate destination of the qucnched
Rocntgcn ray Il n prohlom still awaiting solu-
tlon by further experiment.
The applications Of tho rays hitherto made.
and likely TO be made IN tho near future. lie in
the fields Of surgery, nratomv, and pathology.
| Tho fret mud pngipct p,,,1i,Of t,, in a., Lana, -
of foreign natalie bodies. such rs bullets and
needles. This application kill soon become 80
rapid and easy ns probably to superscdc all
ether methods Of detection. Given tho nee.
cssnrv apparatus. It can hc rugged up In any
room In II quarter of m hour or less. nnd bv
That time tho eye Of nm observer may have
been accustomed TO darkness sufficiently to
make it bf service for the kind Of vision re.
Guircd. RI n photographic plate Is going TO he
used no darkness Is needed: the plate must no
kept properly wrapped ur so that no light can
got 70 II: but the Csc Of such n plate implies
that the locality Of the foreign body IL roughly
known. For dii-cult cases, ms when "A bullet
Is cmhcdded in the trunk or in the brain. IL
may he necessary to use a photographic plate,
and IN any case II NAV he convenient to have
n record Of the result: hut for rapid cxp,ora.
tion of IN" pStrcmities direct vision is sufficient.
The Observer, having been kept In darkness
for some time. applies his eve at about ten
inches from n prepared screen, and upon that
screen the shadow Of tho arm or foot is then
cast nv another operator, who uses n suitable
Observation-Disclosures tube ne his source of the in
visible rays. The hand and foot are 80 trans
parent that nothing more thnn this would 10
necessary IN their case; but for cases such rs
the knee 1r III" trunk. where there is q great
thickness either Of bone or of other tissue to
get through. It may become necessary to em-
plON the ar'IImulntfDp pOwpr Of n pbotn.
graphic Ulatc. and to give a fairly long px-
p"slrc--half m hour. ~nerlaps. or moro II tho
source Of the RAYS IS not working we'll. The
plate is more sensitive than the eve. because Of
its power OF storing up nm impression Of some
nc tlin=: wlercas the eye is adapted for roam.
Inc about and looking at II succession Of things.
Tho difference has bean emphasized by the tre
umphS of celestial photography.
II seems likely that the out paticnt depart.
mcIt Of II large Hospital will hereafter have
n sort of confessional boy in one corner. with
a dark interior enclosing the skille? observer,
and with n conveniently placed fuorescene
screen lct into its wall. An operator outside
will manipulate the apparatus, and thus one
patient after another. Nv exposing Themselves
10 m" stream of rays falling uron this screen,
may have their Injuries or dcf0rmitics located
and described by aid of he shadow which they
cast upon the screen.
Next in case to foreign bodies come injured
bones and Joints. fractures. dilocations. equity
a"rrrtions, di-cn.o solid growths, maIforma.
lions. and the like. Already. however. sur
gcons are vel able to diagnose such cases rs
tlrs". and perhaps they may feel that M fur.
eyer. tlnr they WI not maize us"ot the now
process. for the sake NJ grcatrr = r"i and pre-
ci~iou. Whenever II hocntn"s lanlily available.
The "lse~ hitherto reported on III thi direction.
Zone grntting. toint r%rlsion. and he ukr. huvs
been more IN the way Of cmn!Ii"~lty aud interest