The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1897-01-17
BRIGHT LIGHT
To 4 BLIND EYE
Strange Revelation That
Came to a Man by a
Crookes Tube.
Charles Ejsasser Saw Light and
Motion in an X-Ray
Laboratory.
His Right Eye, Which Gould Not Per
ceive the Sun, Saw the Weird
F uoresce nj G ow.

That the ways of the x ray with human
and other things are yet long way ahead
of the finding out of them has one of its
illustrations in the remarkable experience
of one-eyed man, whose sightless eye
was flooded with the mysterious waves in
Professor Van der Naillen's X-ray labora-
Tory the other day.
No doctors have known or theorized
about this case yet, as they undoubtedly
will do when the story is bruited among
them. Many pathologists here and
abroad have led blind people up to the
strange TASKS of emptiness called Crookes
tubes to study the o4sible effects OF the
new-found vibrations on useless organs of
vision, and varied have been the results.
Some of the blind have perceived nothing.
Some have been transported by knowing
the sense of light again.
The strangeness of the case of Charles
Elsasser lies in the fact that though he
cannot perceive with his injured eye the
presence of an arc light in a room he is
able to see as a weird glowing the light of
the Crookes tn be in opera ton, and further
more it appears brighter to his injured
than to his normal eye.
Mr.. Elsa is about IS years of age,
and for some time has been assistant en-
gineer at the power-house of the Edison
Light and Power Company. Eight years
ago, while working at machine, little
piece of steel struck him in his right eye,
leaving scar across the cornea, and 9TH
erwise injurlng the ball.
During these eight years his right eye
mas been absolutely sightless, not convey
ing even the dimmest impression OF light
when it was turned to the sun with his
left eye closely covered.
Two weeks ago curiosity about the K
rays took him to Professor Van der Nail
lens laboratory, and while he was there
R. Leo Van der Naillen, who attends to the
X-ray experiments, thought 10 try the
rays on Elsassers bind eye. Eisasser
covered his good eye and looked into the
Horoscope with the other eye; he could
see nothing.
He was asked to look directly at the
tube when it was aglow, and ne instantly
said, That's the first time in eight years
that have seen light with that eye."
When he was asked what it looked like
he said it was brig greenish ball of fire.
When his back was turned to the Crookes
tn be and he turned to it again with his
left eye tightly covered his blind
eye would move and fix it'elf on the
light as any normal eye will. Further
more, when a hand was put over t e light
IL brought udrkneSS TO MIN, anu Wnen
fingers were opened and closed between
the light and his eye he could see the
movement as that of shadows,
Young Mr.. Van der Nailien was much
interested and arranged for further ex-
perlments, but two or three days later Ell
sasser caght his arm in belt and had it
crushed so that it had to be amputa ted.
He is now in st. Mary's Hospital, on the
way to recovery, and there he yesterday
confirmed the story of his experience,
though he was not inclined to discuss it
much under the circumstances.
II had not seen light with that eye for
eight years." he said. "but 1 not only saw
that light but it seemed brig liter to that
eye than 10 my good one."
As he gets along very well with one eye,
he is naturally not as deeply interested in
the discovery as he would be if he were
totally blind, but the scientific interest of
the case is lust as great