Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-11-18
Discovery Of a Method Whereby They
May Be Avoided.
TESTED BY PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE
Some Interesting Experiments Made
by Mr.. Elliott Woods.
THE RESULTS EXPLAINED


| malady caused by frequent exposure to the
rays" They call it burn, because it
develops and heals like one, but exactly
what the injury is or what causes it's ap-
| pearance is as deep mystery as is the
| wonderful light which produces it."
The benefits derived from the discovery
OF the power Of that wonderful light
were manifold. Yet as an agent for good
1t was in large part neutralized by the ills
which followed it's application, and the ele-
ment of mystery referred to, and the inabil-
ity OF the learned scientists to explain 1t
away or provide a means to avert the
harmful effects of frequent exposure to
| the x ray, was a bar to it's progress as an
| aid to the medical science.
1t remained for a Washingtonian to de-
velop method of protection against the
ray, which, while not diminishing its
| benefits, has rendered it comparatively. if
| not altogether. harmless. The dscoverer
OF that method is Mr.. Elliott Woods, who
| under Architect Clark has charge of the
United States Capitol building.
| An X-ray burn is peculiar, and it is pain
Iul. 1t Is estimated that the injuries from
| tnat source during the few months the ray
mas been in use will number nearly 100
| dist1nct cases" 1t is also stated that the
| injuries have been inflicted almost entirely
| upon exhibitors, or scientists, who were
constantly working with the machines:
cases where the exposure was very long
or where Ignorance or carelessness was to
| blame
| There are instances of record however.
| OF burns inflicted upon patients with very
| serious consequences. some subjects being
permanently injured while others lost their
| hair and had their flesh scorched beyond
cure; continuous exposure of the flesh to
| the x ray for an hour or frequent expos
ures gave the surface the appearance of
having been baked before a hot blaze in
| some instances and in certain lights the
l limo Tn how
| after having been blistered.
| Mr.. Woods followed closely the expert
| ments made by the eminent scientist Tesla
in New York, and improved upon his meth
DDS with great success. Tesla had sought
| 70 minimize the ill effects of the x ray by
! the use or aluminium as shield. Mr..
Woods substituted gold fell.
Speaking of the experiments he made and
| their results. Mr.. Woods said:
Carelessness Responsible.
From an earnest examination into the
| cases which have come to my notice, and
| from the statements of those who have
| suffered, I firmly believe that carelessness
| Is responsible for three-fourths of the dam
age sustained from application OF the
| x ray. the balance being due to bodily con-
ditions Of the person experimental upon
No matter how careful a surgeon may be
| with the knife, to the deft handling of
| which he has been thoroughly trained,
when he takes hold of a powerful X-ray
apparatus he is certainly in a new field Of
experiment. He has little or no knowledge
OF the apparatus, a general rule, and
all he thinks he has to do is to put the
tube In connection with the induction coil,
and, finding he is getting the Characters
tic huorescent glow, make the Photographic
exposure, or examination, as the case may
be.
"In order that he may realize his hopes
he keeps the patient under the rays as
lCEg he with the result that a
| few days he finds he has done some con-
siderable damage. l have known cases
where the exposure was as much as an
hour, when from an inquiry into the capa-
bilities of the tube used the work to be
done could have been accomplished in ten
to fifteen minutes.
The Focus Tube.
II find that a great number Of burns have
been made with the so-called focus tube. In
the focus tube the molecular bombardment
is concentrated on the central portion of
a thin plate of platinum centrally located.
This platinum is the source of the energy
which we call the x ray. When the tube
is in operation zone Of light which is
visible on the glass bulb shows that the
! energy is being given off from the seat Of
bombardment, and that the radiations are
the same as if the platinum sheet were a
source of light
I'm the old form of tubes, where the
sources were electrodes, more or less, of
different shapes and inclined at various
angles, the glass bulb showed diffused ra-
diation and less concentration of action.
Now, this is an important fact, for it shows
that in early cases patients were operated
on with tubes giving less of direct energy
and the older forms of bulbs did not give
the remarkable distinctness of the focus
type. For this reason, also, the number of
cases of burning reported were not nearly
SO many as after the introduction of the
focus tube. In this latter every ray of
energy, or nearly every one, is utilized, and
the effects are correspondingly accentu-
ated.
But with the Introduction Of the focus
tube has come a corresponding increase in
power of the induction coils used to ener-
giZe it, for 1t Is capable of withStanding a
very much greater input of energy due to
its construction. The knowledge of its
greater power seems not to have warned
operating surgeons, and they have gone on
regardless of the added energy which they
were driving through the flesh and bone
of the patient.
Remedy I'm the Screen.
The remedy Of prevention would seem to
be in the screen, which is generally used
to produce shadowgraph. This. you may
have noted. Is an ordinary cardboard coat
ed with a chemical salt which fluoresces
under the action of the rays. There is a
certain relation between the energy Of the
tube and the distinctness with which the
bones appear. If the vacuum in the bulb
is high, that is. what we experimenters
would call very high, the bones still appear
rather transparent, so much so that, when
shown on the screen, it is easy to place
objects behind them and view such objects
through the bones.
AT this stage the heart may be readily
seen, and. by proper arrangement of the
person before the tube, the shoulder and
collar bones, spine and ribs are easily Wis
ible. The liver may be roted. also. by its
dark shadow. Under these conditions. If
teen minutes OF exposure would photo
graph most any portion Of the body. for
the purpose Of locating foreign metallic
substances.
II have found that in cases where the
energizing coil and tube were powerful
Some exposures have been made as long
as an hour. No wonder the patient was
burned
Nov. you win probably judge from what
have said that the aucrescing screen is
an important adjunct to an X-ray outfit.
and 80 1t Is. and q surgeon should study
his tubes and their action on this screen
before he makes mistake.
When q surgeon installs an x-ray OUT
md A..