The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-02-29
EXPLAINED X RAYS
PHYSICIANS AND SCIENTIFIC MEN
TALK ABOUT ROENTGBN.

raphy Through Opaque Bodies-Ihe
Rays-Ths Invisible or Y Rays are the
Ones That Penetrate and Cast the
Shadow which is the Result.
Denver, Feb. 2S-A diversified as well
as distinguished and learned audi
ence filled the ordinary Of the Brown
| Palace hotel last night TO witness the
first demonstration in Denver Of the
wonder of the new Roentgen discovery
! of photography through Opaque sub
/ stances by the power of the thus far
/ nlystifying Y ray. 1t was supposed TO
| be meeting of the Denver and Arapa-
/ hoe Medical society, but in the audi
ence, which more than crowded the
room, there were not only doctors and
scientists, but people from a dozen 9th
er professions and trades, all curious 10
! get an insight into the newest and most
| fascinating of modern discoveries.
The pioneers in Colorado in expert
mentation with the cathode rays are
/ Professor FlOrian CajOri, who fills the
chair of physics at Colorado college,
and Professor william Strictly, profess
| sor of chemistry at the same institu-
| ton. They have met with considerable
| success in their work, enough 10 be
able at the present time to show some
practical results and give some lucid ex-
| plantations of the wonders Of this new
| field at such gatherings as that of last
night They had with them last night
their apparatus and half dozen plates
developed by the Roentgen process, the
| substance of their work of the past
weeks. Both professors delivered very
! instructive and entertaining lectures on
the subject and illustrated their re-
marks in a way that made the new
process and it's possibilities as clear 20
/ their hearers as 1t is to most people,
! scienced or unscienced, in this period OF
universal ignorance concerning ii.
| The meeting was presided over by DR..
| Robert Levy, president of the society,
and all the leading physicians and sci
entists of the city were present, as well
as Governor Mcintyre and number of
public men. Professor Cajori was the
first speaker. He discussed the differ
| ent forms of rays, the manner in which
they changed from the anode TO the
! cathode, from the positive TO the mega
tive poles. He began with history or
the wave theory of light and related the
results attained by the earliest OF the
Giscoverers, Huyghens, Young and
Fresnel He also explained the relation
Of electro, magnetic waves to light
waves, the new discovery pertaining TO
the former class.
The apparatus used consists Of stOr-
age battery. from which two wires run
to a table on which the rest of the ap-
paratus stands. This consists of two
sorts of glass tubes, known to scien-
lists as theCrooSs and Geisler tubes, one
of which is utilized at a time, The diff
ference in the tubes is principally in the
degree of rarefaction of the air inside
them, that in the Crookes tube being
nearly a vacuum and in the other dens-
err The tube is supported above the
table on an iron frame and the poles of
the battery wires are connected by this
vacuum tube of glass. platinum points
projecting into the tube. Between the
platinum points the light streams
through the vacuum. This light has
odd and unexpected shades grading one
into the other. The stream has Varia-
tons, spirals and vibrations impossible
of description. Close TO the anode pole
the light is a pale, faint green. At the
! anode pole the stream is thin, eager, so
TO sneak, and seems to fizZ. At the ca
thode pole the light flares and fills the
bulb. 1t has an exquisite violet shade.
Immediately under the tube at the ca
thode pole is an ordinary Photographic
plate holder lying on the table, with
plate inside its wooden covering. On
the plate lay the objects TO be photo
graphed. Under ordinary circumstances
such objects could lie in the sunlight on
the wooden plate-hOlder until the COW
ering rotted and the sensitiZed plate
within would show no sign. The object
sought to be attained by exposure TO
I ~, FL, IL t. 20 ha
sensitiZed plate not only a picture Of
the object, but picture having the
grade of density in the subtance Of the
object
Professors Cajori and Strictly made
TO experiments last night. but content
ed themselves with explaining the
workings of the rays. First the Geisler
tube was used and later the CroOkes
tube. The room was darkened and all
the spectators could see was the phOs-
phorescent glow in the tube and they
could hear in the intervals of the pro-
fessor's explanations was the buzz of
the electric current as it jumped from
pole to pole through the tube. Profes-
Sor Cajori explained that the Y or
Roentgen rays are themselves invisi-
BILE those visible being the cathode
rays, which appear not to have the
power of their invisible brethren. In
deed. the Y rays are not light rays at
ell, but dark rays invisible 10 the eye
No camara is used, no focus is neces-
sary The objects to be photographed
are merely laid on the outside of a
plate-holder. the wooded slide of which
is not removed. The vacuum tube Is
suspended above the objects. The y
ray makes its mysterious penetrate
and on the sensitized plate IN the shad-
ow Of the dense objects.
Professor Strictly compared the pres
ent shadow picture taken by the y
rays with the early photographs af
Daguerre and other pioneers in photo
graphy. He pointed out that thus far
il has not been possible TO focus the Y
rays so as TO take pictures like a photo
graph. there being no way so far Of get
ting a clear image, the result being
rather shadow than an image. The
hope was that some method might be
discovered Of making plates 50 highly
senSitiZed that they would take me
image Of an object thrown by the rays
as inStantapeouSly as light rays do in
photography al present. The speaker
reviewed the advantages the discovery
would be 10 surgery and medicine. 70
engineering and 70 other sciences and
even trades. At the conclusion OF his
talk a vote Of thanks was unanimously
given u the two professors and an in
formal discussion followed in which
physicians and surgeons asked all sorts
Of questions. which showed the trend
Of their thoughts in connection with The
adaptation Of the discovery.
PRESIDENT RIPLEY TALKS
He Speaks About the Necessity of Bs
trenchment on santa Re Rosd.
Topeka. Kan, 2S.-President F. =.
RfDIsy and The Marty ~ Santa 70 off