New-York tribune., 1896-11-19
DOUBTFUL OF EDISON'S CLAIM
PHYSICIANS NOT READY TO BELIEVE
THAT HE CAN MAKE THE BLIND SEE.
RESULTS or FURTHER EXPERIMENTS WITH lhr
X RAYS AwAITED-THE INVENTOR TO


MAKE NEW TESTS.
The experiments made c. Monday night py
Thomas A. Edison with two bird men and a
nuoresccnt tube whereby he was led to make the
startling announcement; that he hoped to be ape 10
ame.iorae the condition Of the blind with the ala
Of the X rays aroused considerable specuiauVe
curiosity in this city. but 10 the real merits Oh 'ne
experiments the professional men look asKahce az
the idea that behind the experiment there Is nucn
that may be turned to practical ana per'"a"e"'
end In the OF blindness
Mr. Edison does not for a moment hold TO the dea
that completc sight may be restored to the blind'
but expresses himself " confident that an a"e''a
ton OF their condition may be effected
Doctors who are we'll practised In the treatment
o, affections Of the eye, and who were seen yes'er
day by A Tribune reporter refused to commit them.
selves 10 any opinion upon the practical value OF
Mr. Fdison's achievement. Generally they 90 not
Indorse the claims made by Mr.. Edison IN the pup
lished reports OF yesterday. While they tentatively
acaliiesce in the suggestion that Il might De poss'-
BILE impressions of light may bc obtained. pro-
vided the optic is not injured. they dcciars
that the destruction of the retna removes the mirror
in which the forms Of objective impressions are
taken cognzance OF. and that this fact alone pre-
cules ANYTHING ike a satisfactory help OF the kihd
as proposed by Mr. Edison for total blindness
Dr ] Craig OF the New-York Eye and Ear IN
Urinary, said:
II IS absolutely impossible with the data now
before me to speak upon this latest phase OF me tne
ROVER OF the rays Unless | could see the TWO
men with whom Edison experimental, ana note mote
exactly what the cause OF their deiecl'Ne s's,
would not attempt to express an opinion one way
the other. -
one of the visiting physicians to the Manha''a"
Eye and Ear Hospital who asked that MS name
should not be given also said that In the absence
OF more details 1t would be difficult to discuss the
aucsti,n with any confidence. He added, however
that he had no wish to discount the value that
might arise from Mr. Edisons experiments. and
admitted that 1t was probable that IN some cases
Mr. Edison's discovery might be used w'tn anvah-
tagc especially in that OF person VINO ii,si. I've
sum ring from loss of vision. end where the con
u.ciion between thu nerves ana III" pi"'li ~
bly, Mr. Edlsons discovery might be ben'iciai' pu' m
when airophy OF u the herne h " va r.siorinr sight
DR. Edward g. Janeway Of no ss West For,eihr ,Ii tn
him to discuss the question OF applying rays 10
people suffering from blindness as means o re-
storing their sight. because he did not unu'fStatu
the subject. II was impossible 10 express an opinion
until he knew the conducns cnusr , or D.'I H WIi
Wr Edison said Yesterday that there are mum
OF the wave The ones that are commonly usrd n.'i
nt msi cS tS fr es ss so mch tissue paper
'hc long wave rays. which are much more power-
ius intensely that Is necessary to immerss the
Crookes tub" In freezing mixture to Keep u from
These he proposes to try I'm III" new directlor ana
also those forms OF the rays that pierce metal ana
stone These have not yet been tried on the blind
but he proposes TO continue the experiments win
proper sub )ccts until he has tried all the rays He
said that new discoveries were constantly peihs
made \ now salt OF uranium had recently been
found that promises good results. He thought the
Of the rays that made the greatest impression
the rctina OF blind eyes and then WORK i out ,he
practical application. He suggested as possible
outcome Of the rays that the blind could perhaps
10y having letters Of & sIhsanee
yet all pure speculation