New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-03-22

orurp STARTLING DISCON EHil-o'
,oo, .. a fairly Ineligible account OF PROFESSOR
pn,,aor,s recent discoveries reached this country
las, January thousands Of college pro'eS''''
triclans photographer and othsr so, ,a, I,
70 repeat the Bavarians EXPERIMENT. " ,,a,
mart These men sought. first. TO verify Inc VI
,ory md then II possible, to extend the oou'u
, -, ,bis nev and tempting field or kno"ieuso.
m, the needed apparatus was scarce Costly ar,
comnllcated and much effort has therefore o'
rooted toward simplifying improving anu c"eap1
the process OF producing y rays some men nv
10 focus these rays. in order TO shorten inc INV
o,,rsd for exposing Photographic plate. and also
10 obtain sharper outlines. Others soush' u "'.e'
81. ,o, hirh n vacuum was necessary to produce
The hos, results and whether a Crookes TUBE might
NOT be made OF better material than glass; in'e.''
hold attempts made to dispense WIN "a
vacuum tube altogether. with the ihiuctioh Gull aN
even with electricity ~ ., an
Commendabe as was the spirit OF Ill ''i'' GU.
deavor many Of those who were mus amman"
,,h,rad under the disadvantage OF being rather one
aided In their scientific experience ana ihto'ma"o'
Among the electrical experts there were co"ese p,o
fesso-s inventors Of emnence VINO were u"ia',''''
with photography. Then there were clever p"o'os-
ranhers were could not tell 4 Leyden jar from
oower-not or a Tesla coil from a hairp'n Ihere
wcre intensely practical men. who had never iou"u
f. necessary TO bother with theory or history ELMER
IN electricity or photography and there were others
who were loaded up with abstruse learning e"ousa
10 Ill a libra. but were lacking IN techh'Vai sN'
Not few investigators. while successful ana per-
hans prominent In other art or science had
pever had occasion to dabble In either photography
or electricity. except in the most elementary way
And the daily and weekly newspapers were NOT as
closely watched as they might be for reports OF what
other experimenters were doing In this Same ine.
Under these circumstances. II Is not 10 De
at that some enthusiastic disciples and wouid-oe
rivals OF R0ntgen have rediscovered Things "n'cn
were known before and permitted crude and illogical
conclus,ons 10 reach the press. Even where there
WAS no seeking after mere notoriety the desire 10
help along the cause Of science has now ana tneh
impeled a man to report achievements susceptible
OF another Interpretation than his own. There has
been danger, therefore. at times that the public
which Is following all these researches with eager
interest would be puzzled II not misled
MANY THINGS TO BE CONSIDERED
Perhaps the most serious trouble has grown out
OF the failure recognize the great variety Of nlu-
ences which may affect the chemicals In the sensi-
tive coating OF a Photographic plate. Besides what
No call light" "a visible radance). the unseen
.ltra violet" RAYS of the spectrum, the Invisible
RAYS discovered by R0ntgen heat, mechanical press
IRE electricity and probably several other forms OF
force will produce the same effect. though acting
With different degrees Of rapdty In order TO ascer
tain which one OF leads to an observed
result therefore, becomes desirable to conduct an
experiment In such "A manner as to preclude the OPP
Grafton Of all others Some Of the work done thus
far in the hunt for Y rays may be briefly men
toned to Illustrate this point
A number OF shadow pictures have been taken In
the following manner: key or coin was fastened
to the cover Of plate-holder BY black paper
wrapping, and the parcel was then placed between
the metallic terminals OF a simple electrical circuit
the current In which was produced by one OF the
well-known forms OF electrical machine. modih-
~ 10 alan IN tha curr oh
an induction COIL and insert the sensitive plate be-
tween the terminals OF the secondary circuit After
the Aim Would show that outside the limits Of
tie object photographed the chemicals had been az
coin tinfoiI star or what not was shadow exactly
reproducing the form Of the original; II silver
plate (sSen with sheet Of mica betwsen there ere
would be copy Of the raised lettering and other
plate But all this was done three or four years ago
long before R3ntgen became at all conspicuous in
snt sort Of thing hing from that which the rays
sides OF the coin, Moreover. Inc "eIsctrosraph. as
interior structure Of an object bones and iesh in
hand for instance. but the simplest shadow Of the
the w1h f. Of sSs
known Philadelphia electrical engineer. says tina,
| not show the unseen.
USING THE ARC LIGHT.
In another class Of experiments the ordinary arc
| light Is used. The same sort Of package as that
Just described Is made up. the wrapping being such
as to exclude visible radiance Instead of inserting
this between the two poles. however, the operate
holds fixes It at side Of the light only few
inches away. After an exposure Of two or three
hours the plate Is impressed with a shadow without
any details whatever. The particular kind of black
paper employed IL believed to have the power OF ex-
Guiding ultra violet rays. in which the light OF an
first therefore. TO suspect that the image pro-
gem his pictures In recent number OF "scence
however. w. 8. Franklin. Of Ames, Iowa. reports
| other possibility. In some Of them he Got good
shadows. Then ho repeatod the experiment. chang.