The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-11-22
EDISON'S LAST MIRACLE
M TELLS MORE TULLI or MS
UOpLs FOE THE BLIND.
The Wizard Is Delving Deep in SCIENCE
and Mikss Known Several impotta"'
Recent Discoveries,


savs the New York Journal
Through his horoscope the man WIG
breaks his leg can watch The surgeon nI
together the ragged fracture win c'.
tainty that the work j. being zone Iisnr
lv. Mr.. Edison now demands that the
blind shall be allowed TO see. III 'u'
modesty Of his soul DE does nor 'i.iiHl
quite an that was claimed TOT MN i"''
has made even a better start thah INC
first news Of his discovery Indicated
A MODERN MIRACLE
To begin with, he has performed n
modern miracle on himself. and mas
strong hope that what be has done for
himself De may do for others. ln the
Electrical Engineer Mr.. Edison modest
IS says under his signature;
The Rocntgen ray powerfully changes
the normal condition Of vision. With
strong tubes one can easily see through
the hand with the naked eye. when both
are brought very ose TO the tube. NOV
ing objects are also seen plainly. For the
first two or three seconds the eye per-
ccivog nothing. but by that time the ray
has maze some change I'm the eye ana
the sensitivencss is increased.
That Is enough 10 set the scientists or
two worlds 10 work with renewed energy
on the Roentgen ray. Mr.. Edisoh ul7-
cussod bis discovery with his usuai ilou-
esty and simplicity.
"A few nights ago" he said, "after
working FOR a long time before an A-ray
bulb. nv eyes panied me severely
closed my eyes YEARLY covering them
with my left hand. ] saw the bones OF
nv hand with my eyes shut. and when l
passed my right hand across ! saw the
bones OF that through my closed Ids ana
the bones Of the left hand. That gave
me g., Of making the blind see. !
could 60 out I'm the bright glare Of noon
day and see nothing. but the bulb con-
yertcd my two hands into perfect
horoscope.
Il have been working on the eye from
the standpoint Of the Rocntgcn ray.
While | know nothing Of the eye from u
SURGICAL standpoint / have found out that
darkness mtonsihos the power TO see. i
have discovered by mathematical deduc-
tons that staying In am absolutely dark
room for thirty minutes increases the
constituencies Of the eye twenty-five iold.
find il so i'm the use of the fluoroscope.
and If will soon be recognized by all
scientists.
HOW THE IDEA CAME TO HIM.
"This was the start. and the idea came
10 mo that the eyes OF the blind must ne
many hundreds Of times more sensitive
than those Of the normal. provided tine
optic nerve d. i'm a healthy state. Here
the discovery hinges. If the optic nerve
is an riehf-nO matter what the condi-
ton Of the outer eye may be-thcra should
be hope Of sight. from scientific stand
point.
"'rhc experiments Of last Monday night
were not satisfactory. ] might 90 on Tor
four months without striking the exact
vibration Of sight. and at the end dis
cover II i'm second. What ] shall do is
another matter. Jacob Mahrbachcr and
ono Kallcnscc were not the right kind
Of subjects. [ want thoroughly inteli-
cent man-one who can explain his sciisd-
lions TO me as 1 go along. for without
knowing these I am ass much i'm the dark
as himself.
"'rhcse men could not tell me what
they saw. They were hystcrical with de-
light at being able To see anything. ana
were sure they would soon bee able TO
read fine print by candlclight. All ! know
IS what they could tell me. and that
wasn't much. They said they saw points
Of fire dance before their eyes when the
current was ON. and were in Egyptian
darkness when IT was of.
Il did not have the apparatus 10 make
tho test that will Dee made later on !
have simply pointed tho way. and there
is no telling who will make the final dis
covorv. Ii may be made I'm Germany
san Francisco or Francc-or here IN west
Orange.
"Tbis discovery strikes me as being Csc
peciallv well adapted 10 persons suffering
from cataract beyond the power Of surg
ical skill These persons have in most Csc
seutial respects normal eyes. The nerve
is all right. and. being covered 90 total
{ darkness. the eyes must ho sensitive 10 ID
decree impossible TO calculate. with inc
Roentecu ray TO penetrate this film, why
should not these persons sce-
"Why should not these persons use your
nuoroscopc?' was asked Of the Wizard.
..'Thaf is out of the question. The iiuOio-
scope IS ordinary daylight. 10 simply con-
vcrts the unexplainable Rocnteen ray
into ordinary light hv rejecting i ON
particles of calcium tuncstatc. This mn-
oral has tho nrororfv of converting the
invisible ray into light Put the Foent-
Gen raw into "a dark box. ana You nave
absolute night. Put into that box crys-
tails of the simple calcium tunsiate. ANA
YOU have light. II we had always known
the ROentgcn ray We should have ict"td-
od the tunstatc calcium aus % phosphofcs-
cent mineral they have such am affinity
for each other These two make the
horoscope: so. YOU see. they would do
the blind man no good.
FIGURES NEARLY beyond COM
PREHENSION.
"Thc Rocntgcn ray. / have discovered.
may DE increased in power To- am extent
almost beyond the power of figures 10
calculate. I'm itself 10 is supposed by
some scientists 10 pc light vibration of
thousand million millions per second.
How ;his may bc. ] DO not know. All
science depends or striking the vibration.
and in this we must strike the vibration
necessary to make the blind man see.
Bernard. YOU know. could see twin
stars with the naked eye. and through
the telescope his sight was that much