The San Francisco call., 1896-02-18
Professor Sanford Explains
Crooke's Tubes, Ether Vibra.
tions and x Rays.
WAVES WITH A NEW WIGGLE.
The Great Thing That Roentgen's Dis.
covery May Be and Things That
It Is Not.
Professor Fernando Sanford of the de-

Professor Fernando Sanford of the de-
partment of physics of the STANFORD Uni
versity has just received letter from his
associate, Professor Carmen, who is now
in Berlin, and who has Investigated Roent-
gems photographs with his X or un-
known rays. Professor Carmen doesn't
comes from a scientist.
Il saw Roentgen's photographs the
other day." writes Carmen in the course
OF his letter, land heard Warburg, pro-
fessor of physics in the University of Ber-
lin, and others discuss them. hummer had
also seen them, and there seems TO be no
doubt about the reality OF the phenomenon.
The photograph Of the hand, in
which only the bones and the ring are
shown, is very striking. 1t is, however,
not very sharp. A photograph of a mag
netlc compass IN wooden case, photo
graphed through the case, is very sharp
indeed. We know as much here as any,
where, but there is yet no consensus of
opinion as to what the phenomenon really
is. The natural idea is that they are Ion
gitudiual ether waves. They are, how
ever, very faint"
Professor Sanford Is a widely known
physicist, who has made some important
discoveries in physical science, the most
important of which were his photographs
in the dark, with the so-caled Hertzian
waves, made three years ago, and he is
naturally keenly interested in Professor
Roentgen's startling discovery of unseen
shadows, not made with light, and of q
way to fix them on Photographic plates.
Sanford has experimental a little with
Roentgen's process, and has secured faint
results, but he has not had ready for use
the proper apparatus, and is not ready to
talk about his experiments.
He talked about Roentgen's work, how
ever, yesterday, at the university, and ex-
planned, in a way that people Of ordinary
intelligence can understand, what Roent-
gems discovery may possibly be. The
scientists are only guessing at the new
thing yet, though many have opinions.
The point OF chief scientific interest in
the matter, which is the theory by which
Roentgen and Others explain the phe-
nOmenon, the papers say little or nothing
about" said Professor Sanford. That is,
that he has discovered a new form of
motion or vibration IN the ether-vibra-
tlons that are longitudinal instead of
transverse to the line of progress.
would not express any definite opinion
about it. 1t would be only guessing, and
there IS plenty of guessing going on. 1t is
scientists s business TO guess, but to find
out before he talks. A large part of the
stuff and most Of the pictures the papers
publish are necessarily fakes. 1t is but
natural that there should be a good deal OF
stopping over about such a thing, of
course. 1t is too early to make anv
denEste predictions as to what scientific or
practical value the discovery will have,
but 1t is, OF course, thing of great in
terest TO physicists, and IL may extend our
knowledge wonderfully
Then the physicist led the way into a
big laboratory, full OF all sorts of costly
scientific apparatus, and elucidated some
Vhat the story of Roentgen's X rays
The discovery and the process of Profess
or Roentgen (call it Rantgen, with a
shcrt and hard g began with
tiooke's tube, and the professor picked
dp a Crooke's tube and connected iU by
two wires with an induction coil. which
was IN turn connected with two-cell bat
terry. A CroOke' tube arranged for use Is
hollow sealed shell OF glass of any size or
shape, from which the air has been very
nearly but not quite exhausted, and into
which run platinum wires connected with
the opposite poles of battery
The bulb of an incandescent electric
light Is pretty good Crooke's tube. The
one that Professor Sanford picked M
was made to show extra effects. 1t was of
Two compartments-one small one-be-
tween which there was free connection
through slender glass tube bent double
and then into the form of q cross. Air or
fluid passing between the compartments
would go up, around and back through
the cross. The professor Sc. the current at
work and instantly the Crooke's tube be-
came thing of beauty. Around one OF
the wire ends at one end of the tube there
appeared purple glow that was simply
mass OF fluorescence in the vacuum. The
wire ilself gave out no light. At the other
end OF the tube was much smaller huor-
escence. The glass cross gIowed with a
beautiful greeniSh light, which seemed to
stream through the cross but not leave it.
Now, this Crooke's tube, as it lay there
glowing with its strange light, was ready
to produce one of Roentgen's photographs
II things had been fixed right around it.
Vibrations OF some sort-those Y rays
were surely beaming from it in ali direc-
tions. shining through the box on which the
tube lay, as sunlight would shine through
a glass case, and if the reporter had