New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-04-28

r,,r1p PRACTICAL USE IN SURGERY AND
MEDICINE.
LATEST EXPERIMENTS OF DR.. WILLIAM J. NOR
ToN-NEw METHODS OF DIAGNOSIS.

ToN-NEW METHODS OF DIAGNOSIS
The reported practical discovery by Professor c.
:, Nor,on of the Massachusetts Institute or Tech-
-.,o,v in regard TO the X rays by which he was
,obled 10 examine almost the entire inner system OF
hs human body and 10 diagnose disease by means or
..orse darkness in his operating room and an In
..,seed concentrated light, was announced a, time
-,an one OF the physicians of this city, Dr. Wiliam
= Marion OF No. 10 East Twenty-eighth-st. was
.hou, 10 read paper before the Medical society OF
,hs County Of New-Yo telling OF some OF MS eH-
.,,,snts along nearly he same lines. About TWO
-. ogo DR. Morton was enabled. through the
rssx OF Dr. Henry d. Chaplin. to take RADIO
.,h AZ n.ne-weeks-od infant who died IN the
sh,ss' ward OF the New-York Post Graduate hos
,,.l An Aprl9 In describing the method employed
mr. Morton said that the Crookes tube was placed
-, assnce Of fourteen inches above the child and
" r,,ca, line above the epgastric region The
,.,,. n,ata was incosed within n cardboard
49, and less than forty minutes actual time was
.onsuued in securing the impression. Al present
tbe same result could be obtained IN ABOUT hitee"
,,,nu,es Although the taking OF the picture was
$3.50 N show the skeletal bones only. many or the
'Asa ue-s MAINLY visible in the plate. The COM
,u,,or. ~ the brain were reproduced. the heart
- Two, could be seen in shadow, and the dls-
tended stomach and intestnes stood OUT pretty
.,a,nlv lighter than the rest as they were as
,andsa win gas On the plate also, slight diner
a,ca IN shadow suggested the position OF '"e co"-
ees,ed unaerated lung OF the iniah''
~. aa,,ng ~ the County Medical Society was
Ia Ice, r,ght at the New-York Academy OF Medi-
cine No II West Forty-thrd-st The auoi'oi'u'"
which Is supposed 10 seat about 500 persons, wa"
.rondsd with more than 500. and many were obliged
% 90 away without hearing Or. Mortons paper
On the platform was the apparatus 10 DE useu W
the sneaker in his practical illustrations. and In the
of his talk he showed the audience the bones
q, his hand as thrown upon fuorescent screen OF
tungstate Of caicium by the y ray ABOUT MAI.
the audience also had chance TO see the bones OF
their own hands through the microscope. "heh
this opportunity was announced there was siam
pede for the platform, none wanted to miss the
sights Several other practical experiments were
performed one of the patients Of DR.. Joseph Sauxi
having her hand, in which needle was supposed
to be buried. taken by means OF the y ray
DR. Morton said: These reports that we have
heard from time TO time saying that the X ray Will
kill disease germs in the body must be taken with
suspicion. 1t may be possible to kill them when
they are In test tubes but they in cells as the It's
sues Of the body are made up OF cells and II the
ray would Kill the germ. believe it would Kill the
tissue In which the germ was formed
The subject of the paper which was read by Dr.
Morton was THE X Ray and Some Of Its APP
phcations in Medicine" with demonstrations OF ap-
paratus working and lantern slides showing some Of
the results already obtained. The first part OF the
paper was devoted to history OF the discovery ana
development of the rays. Some apparatus was then
exhibited, including the Ruhmkorn coil and the
Crookes tubes. Then Or. Morton explained the
working OF the Horoscope and the Photograph After
dwelling at length the present ability to see
fOrmat tons by means of the rays; their use
In dentistry and the ability, with them 10 detect
foreign substances in the body, he went on TO speak
OF their in locating end examining soft tissu IS.
He said zone of the most unexpected and as yet
a most undeveloped, but obviously one Of the most
useful. applications of the ray. is TO locate the
position Of soft tissues and 10 indicate. not alone
that they the subject OF disease. but even the
which the disease extends In the radio
graph of the infant shown here tonight" Uhe same
that has already been mentioned) the liver Is
plainly shown in outline and the heart is shown
and mapped out in relation to the usual landmarks.
Organs like the stomach and intestines allow the
ray TO pass freely, and thus the record OF their
location and size is made.
These findings in relation TO the soft tissues upon
q Photograph are but the beginnings Of a new art Of
diagnosis. Thus far they only the accidents. so
TO speak. Of its practice. Soon shall arrive at
retinements OF method and Of technique in relation
10 time OF exposure posturing. etc. which resemble
the skill of the practised photographer. For
posture may be timed as clsary TO depict the soft
tissues and their inier-relations An over-exposure
enace every record the plate except that Of the
bones. and may easily efface that. An under
exposure gives negative which is fun OF delicate.
snostlike and yet clearly defined outlines OF skin,
muscles, tendons. veins and arteries. Some sach
negatives are far stranger and more startling to the
investigator than the mere crude outline OF the
bones The mind walks in among the tissues them
selves: II Is their ghost or their astra. form that
stands depicted Bul stranger still are the revela-
uohs Of looking through the living, freshly body by
tne AID OF the Horoscope. First seen the verte
eIae m. greater bones the ribs, and then. TO the
SHsonshed gaze, in dark outline, but moving. may
sen the beating OF the near the rise and fall OF
rv,h rsos IN respiration. and the movements and
tbeaa 'ioai Improvements OF organs. ] have seen
Their Organs Hssns plainly outlined and noted changes In
wv nasnv que to disease.
we need not become ina ginatve or speculative In
msv b s .don OF this subject. but in oncusiOn, II
new are r Ssd mat the practical development of this
granny ot wnat may be called inner-seeng. or ESQ
ra,a ~ ausances yet another month at It's present
and "a a. progress you will see with your own eyes.
your neebboro not alone the skeleton construction Of
Of HE or your patient, but also the location
veins and me shape Of his muscles tendons.
sity ~ ,"a.eres nay more-the variations In dem
sea, 81 structure Of these parts and therefore the
ARE h1dS area OF their diseases. Many things that
A'e "'ouen shall now be revealed