Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1896-04-24
x RAYS KILL GERMS.
CLAIMS OF CHICAGO SCIENTISTS TO
A MARVELLOUS DISCOVERY.

Said to he Practical.
Epidemics will be impossible. Asiatic
cholera is no more to be feared than
earache Diphtheria and glanders and
typhoid have at last met a power stron-
ger than their own malignancy. The
threats of deadly bacilli may bring less
terror than the sigh Of an evening breeze,
and pneumonia and tuberculosis be more
inconvenionces than pests This is the
future Of contagion when the Roentgen
ray is used in the regular practice as a
companion Of saw and scalpel and lint
according to two Chicago physicians.
Professor W. P. Pratt and Professor
Hugh Wightman, the electro therapeutist
and the bacteriolcgist Of Bennett Medic
al college. Chicago, have practically
proved this They have put the germs Of
eight of the most deadly diseases through
! the test A week has elapsed. They have
been fed and nurtured with the greatest
care. They have failed to propagate or
spread, proving they are dead or have
been stunned. Diphtheria was slain out
right. There is no doubt of the effect in
this case. The same final and positive
verdict in the others is reserved for a
few days, that the bacilli may have the
best possible chance to revive, and that
every scientific requirement Of the ex-
pertinent may be fulfilled
1t is admitted by two physicians who
have spent night and day in their labo-
ratory that they have been startled by
the discoveries. They have worked with
the germs in test tubes. They maintain
that success secured under this advan-
! tage predicts much more marvellous ef-
! fects when the same attack shall be
made upon these enemies located in the
human body. The method will be tried
at once They will not be able to get
patients with all the diseases which
they claim to have conquered, but rea-
son that success in one means success in
all.
This is the group upon which they
made the initial investigation: 1. Ba-
cilli Of cholera. 2. Bacilli of diphtheria.
8. Bacilli of influenza. 4. Bacilli of
CHAMBERS. 3. Bacilli of pneumonia 8.
Bacilli Of typhoid. 7. Bacilli of tuber-
culosis 8. Bacilli of anthrax.
The various germs were grown i'll
tubes in proper media Magnetic lines
of force from the CrooEes tube were
passed through them. The application
lasted for two hours Cholera was the
easiest and appears to have been wiped
out entirely. Diphtheria has been
treated very tenderly and favorably,
but after eight days has failed to show
the slightest signs of life. There has
been no activity in the bacteria of the
other classes, and with certain modifi-
cations the distinguished doctors are
now ready to announce that the ray,
properly applied, will destroy any form
of infectious or contagious germ. This
is indorsed by the college faculty, and
the entire electrical equipment, the best
in the west, will be used this week for
further proof Of the discovery which is
now maintained to be fact
Professor Pratt says the theory and
reason are easy and very practical The
magnetic force from the x ray will pass
directly into the affected tissues. Elec-
trolysis will follow, the chemical de-
composition will liberate oxygen, which
will unite with the free oxygen of the
body and make ozone. Ozone will kill
all bacteria the body may possess.
The present state of the experiment
proves death to the bacilli in some in
stances and disability in others. The
effect in either case will be eventually
the same to the patient, the tissues in
the latter instance gaining new strength
and driving out the bacilli.
Professor Wightman, the bacteriolo-
gist, would have been less amazed had
all the tubes failed to show any killing
power of the ray. There was a certain
crudeness in the first apparatus. 1t was
less satisfactory to operate through the
tubes than by actual cases in the human
body, the glass in some cases interfer-
ing with the force. While as yet there
is no evidence Of activity in any Of the
deadly collection of germs he fears there
may be left somewhere in the tubes a
spark Of life which shall spread itself
over the entire mass. This has not ap-
peared within eight days Upon this
fact he believes that cure could be ef-
fected in an actual case, the unconscious
ness of the animals giving the stimulated
organs an opportunity to finish them.
DR.. Pratt is convinced that this force
from the Crookes tubes is the single
agency that is fatal to all forms Of bac.
terra. Some are destroyed by cold and
some by heat, but they have all remain.
ed quiet for week under this destroyer.
The disease producing ones thrive best
at a temperature Of 100 degrees. The
others multiply at much lower tenn
perature, some propagating best during
the ooldest weather. Boiling water will
wipe out some members of the family
and freeze the others. Daylight is fatal
to most Of them, but it being impossi-
BILE at present TO project the sun into the
human system the great discovery of
the German scientist makes an invalu-
able substitute in the electric ray Drs.
Pratt and Wightman are the first in the
world to apply it,
The bacilh used were selected with
the greatest care. Each group was tested
before preparation for the slaughter.
They were allowed to culture, " as the
book language puts it, Small colonies
were put into tubes, and with remark
able rapidity the settlements could be
seen with naked eye to grow. The
cholera assortment was imported from
Asia, taken from the body of a victim
the diphtheria from the throat of fatal
case All this precaution was made lest
the experiments be made upon germs
which were not at the height of their
activity Cholera, which was especially
healthy, went down first, but it is fear
ed it NAV revive This is however the