Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-03-27
Y RAY sPECTACLEs, NOW.
Edison Invents n Portable Machine
for Surgeons.

ORANGE. March pa few weeks
ago Thomas A. Edison abandoned fuo-
resent photography, and since then he
has devoted his time in his laboratory
at West Orange, to searching for means
of making X-rays assist the naked eye
I'm seeing through solid flesh. lie eX-
perimented with 1.SOO chemicals and mine
rails. until he discovered that tungstate
of calcium was the material for his pur-
pose He found that by covering paper
with CRYSTALS of the chemical he was en-
abled to see through ,the arm and eight
inches of solid wood, and that 1t was
also possible 10 see through three feet
of cork. all with the naked eye applied
to a roughly apparatus called
By him a Horoscope.
After discovering that tungstate or cal
cium served as potential for the N-rays,
the inventor continued to experiment
with that chemical and this after
noon he stated that he had contriyed
portable X-ray apparatus. The new ap-
paratus can be constructed Tor ltte
money Mr.. Edison intends TO show II
at an electrical exhibition, TO be given
in New York. soon.
The new machine will permit hospi-
an Injured limb, and to see the interior
of the arm or leg while using their In
struments in operation, so that no I'M
necessary cutting or probing will be done.
The new machine consists of "A double
tube vacuum pump attached to wooden
upright, tho exhaust mercury-pips run
ming into a small wooden box alongside
the pump. In which the tube Is placed.
The electric current IS furnished from an
ordinary battery and induction coll under
the box or I'm any other convenient place,
and the wires leading up through the
bottom of the box make II impossible
that the surgeon or patient receive
shock. The surgeon would turn on the
current and place the part OF the body TO
be operated on across the top of the box,
with the tube belonging TO the apparatus.
The Horoscope would then be fastened
over the surgeons eyes. When placed over
the eyes. the Horoscope looks like
large pair of spectacles without lenses
The outer end of the apparatus IL covered
with paper coated with the tungstate or
calciuhm crystals. The thin board cover
of the box offers no effective resistance
TO the passage Of the rays. and it would
DE possible for the attending surgeon to
make an examination of the injured part
at leisure. TO ascertain the exact spot or
the injury, and 10 use his instruments
with precision in removing a foreign sub
stance or I'm setting a broken bone
The tungstate OF calcium is made Tor
Mr. Edison by an Orange firm OF chem
lists, and when he secures new supply
Of the chemical he will continue work on
the large screen or horoscope. with which
he homes to be able TO see easily through
all parts of the head or body. Thus far
Mr.. Edison has perfected tubes and fuo-
roscope 20 such an extent that II is posi-
bic for him to see through the tissues OF
the arm, leg, or shoulder, and locate
every bone clearly.
Whether Mr.. Edison will make any
money out of his Horoscope or not is a
question. Since he began experimenting
with the Roentgen rays he has worked
on an average twenty hours a day, and
has spent thousands of dollars.