The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-11-08
SEEING THE HEART BEAT.
Startling X-Ray Experiments at the
University of Michigan.
FROM the Detroit Free Press.

From the Detroit Free Press.
Ann Arbor Mich Oct. PA most ex-
traordinary series of experiments were
tried last evening and tonight at the
physical laboratory eff Prof, II. s. Car
hart, assisted by Dean V. c. Vaughn of
the medical department and Drs. w J.
Herdman and F. G. Novy BY means of
skillfully contrived apparatus these gem
tlemen and a few invited guests were able
to see the heart pulsations of a living
man and watch the play Of the bones in
various parts of the body when in mo-
ton. II was a marvellous sight, and one
that inspired the less scientific beholders
with profound awe.
When the guests entered the room in
which the experiments were to be tried
there was nothing in sight but a lot of
familiar electrical apparatus. A new in
| duct!on coil stood on a table. Four cells
| of a storage battery stood under the Ia
| bic. A resistance coil stood along side
A few scraps Of insulated wire, a pair of
| CroolSes tubes, and a curious looking box
! completed the equipment. IL was soon
| explained that this box was the important
| element in the experiment. The spectator
was to glue his eyes to the opening al the
! small end and look hard at the black
| pasteboard in front Of him. The room
was then darkened and the battery turned
! on, a new Crookes tube of great power
being put in the circuit. As soon as the
box was turned toward the tube the inlky
| darkness of the interior Of the box dis
appeared and the black pasteboard be-
came grayish white, like a pane of ground
| glass. Prof. Carhart then thrust his hand
| between the tube, now brilliant with the
peculiar green.sh phosphorescent light
that accompanies the production of the
X rays, and every bone became distinctly
| visible on the pasteboard screen sur
| rounded by a cloudy outline showing the
limits of the fleshy covering.
The X ray photograph Is shadowy, vague
| and unsatisfactory compared to the re-
suits obtained in this new manner The
thinnest gauze more obscures an object
| to the eye in sunlight than did the cover
| ing Of skin and muscle obscure the bones
in Prof. Carharts hand. Then his wrist
was turned, the elbow fiexed and straight
| ened, and the arm twisted back and forth.
1t was like watching a skeleton in a slight
haze, mysteriousy endowed with the pow
er of sef-motion. The clothing was no
| hindrance to the vision, the rays passing
through clothing as readily as the naked
| flesh
Then DR. Novy tried a few objects in the
field. and finally sat before the tube and
| allowed the spectators TO count his ribs
and suddenly 1t was discovered that the
heart was visible, and that its pusations
could be watched and counted. The heart
was misty In outline, not distinct like the
bones. but there 1t was, moving regularly
and the spectator counted its pulsations
while Dr. Herdman stood with his finger
on Dr. Novys pulse to verify the count
and make sure 1t was not the pickering OF
the light that misled the eye.
| The inside of the screen to the curious
box was covered with a layer of tunstate
of calcium, by means of which layer the
| X rays were transferred into rays Of light
! that affect the eye, thus making the X ray
| visible. An effort will be made after a
while to fix a large screen In a doorway sc
that all of an audience in a dark room car
see the pictures simultaneously, the room
| supplanting the box. In this way the
| whole skeleton of a man may perhaps be
shown at once and at the same time walk
| ing about