The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-05-13

But when we leave the bones and come
W 6ne internal organs, especially the alb
uomlnal organs, the case is different.
NO method of examination from the out
sue mas yet been satisfactory in the alb
oom1nal region. 10 find, tor instance,
II there is renal calculus, the kidney
must &c cut down into; and the abdomi-
aai walls are, in fact, frequently opened
lof 5he mere purpose of diagnosis, al
s ehough no operation may be ultimately
louiid necessary. So great, however, is
modern surgical skill with antiseptio
methods that, it is said, the patients are
usually rather benefited by these explora-
olohs Than the reverse; but, nevertheless,
eVery surgeon must feel that an easier
t'l.o quicker process, giving sufficient ol-
tsgnosGlc power IN the region of the ap-
uoinen, is eminently desirable. In the
region Of the chest the stethosoope has al
ready supplied the want, and to the
Sraihod ear every occurrence going on In
nearU and lungs is thereby made as plain
y manifest as if they were laid open. Is
u TOO much to hope that before long the
Roentgen rays will do for the abdomen
WhaJ the stethoscope has done Tor the
6norRx? | myself have taken photographs
-aJ nrst OF animals, a1terward OF human
subJects-in which the interior organs
appear. The liver is an Opaque mass;
the Kidneys are relatively transparent;
least in dead subject, but in life inter
nal movements are apt to obliterate them
SO that they only show indistinctly.
Foreign metallic bodies in the viscera
are readily perceived, but calculi are
more difficult. There is always the I'M
certainty as to whether in any given case
calculus exists or not, hut the real
dlfhoulty Is the inadequate opacity OF
these bodies, combined with the objeo-
tlon to long exposure on account of the
probability of internal movements which
VIII obiiterate or blur the resulting out
lines. But, how long is it since the
original discovery? That nything at al.
can be SO soon accomplished is remnrk-
able. Whenever anything like bright
instantaneous vision of shadows cast by
rays which have penetrated the trunk is
| possible, all these diff culties will disap
pear. There will remain another diff
Guilty, and one very noticeable already.
The shadows or their photographic REG
| ords may be clear and distinct in them
selves, but they are not easy to read.
| Take a simple object like few complete
vertebrae with their processes, and use it
| to cast shadow on a white wall, with q
point of light as source; the shadow may
be puzzling. Now imagine the bone par
| TALLY transparent, so that the shadow is
no longer An outline, but q superpcsed
mass of detail-to the unframed eye it
| VIII U6 Sblll UlOrS Oto OAo
| information given by such shadow is
| essentially good; there is far more in it
than in an outline shadow, and after
long practice no doubt every detail, in
any respect, of such bone shadow may
| be easily read.
The appearance Of the dim and blurred
| shadow Of the superposed Vlscera is at
present still more confusing. Even an
| anotomist may have to grope his way
| among them and half guess what each
| patch of varied shading ia. But then,
he has never seen such photograph be-
| fore. Let novice try listening at a
stethoscope for the first time, how much
detail could he make out, no matter how
we'll he really knew the events to which
| he was oonfusedly istening2 Yet the
stethoscope has provided itself of the ut
| new method Of indirect ocular inspection
| instructive for diagnosis as the present
Only it must be remembered that the
| photographic method will need to be-
| learned; it must not be supposed that q
all that is to be got out of it. Long expo
rience of similar pictures of both healthy
| and diseased structures, and of anatomi-
cal preparations suitably injected will
| 3be necessary before O race Of medical
practitioners arises to whom the new
method of diagnosis will be as familiar,
| and as much above the powers of un-
| trained laymen, as are now what will
| then have become the dim and difficult
and cropping methods of bygone day.
OLIVER TODGE