The San Francisco call., 1897-04-25

Instead of diminishing as the days go by
interest in the Y ray is constantly on the
increase and any new theory as to its ori-
gin, action o. results IS eagerly seized upon
by medical men, electricians and the pub
lie in general. In some way the y ray has
not proved all that was expected year
ago, but in others it has surpassed the
widest coniectures as 10 its possibilities.
It has been shown that 1t Is not play
thing TO be used by anybody, and IL has
also been demonstrated that III expert
enced hands its field is almost boundless.
Ever since Professor Roentgen made
the discovery OF the existence of the y ray
scientific men have constantly been eIpe-
rimenting to ascertain why the wonderful
radiance is invisible to normal eye.
Powerful enough 10 pass with ease through
a piece of three-inch oak the human eye
cannot see it. While it is shown that q
space of many cubic feet around an active
Crookes tube must be perfect glow of
light, as far as the human eye is concerned
it is perfect darkness. Truly this Is mys-
terious.
For long time the generally accepted
theory was that the vibrations of the Y
rays were too rapid for the human sense
of vision TO grasp. 1t was estimated that
this was trllliou times the vibration of
ordinary white in daylight. Then came
the astonishing statement that many blind
people experienced The sensation Of light
on looking a a working Crookes tube. To
be sure they saw no objects, but the fact
that they were able 10 distinguish light
was som mething wonderful.
Charles Gulllaume, an eminent scientist
of France. has just issued a circular In re-
gard TO this aspect of the Y ray that seems
reasonable in many ways. Experiments
have Iso been made in this City that show
the correctness of his reasoning. A copy
of the circular in question has been re-
ceived by Professor Van der Naillen OF the
School of Engineering, and he has only
been too willing to show it to those inter-
Csted.
In his circulars Guillaume states that
he was led to his Investigations by the
acknowledged connection between the y
ray and the ultra violet rays OF the
spectrum. 1t has been shown photo
graphically that the ultra violet rays ex-
isl, and yet they cannot be seen by the
human eye. Whether they are also capa-
be OF penetrating solids is still matter
OF conjecture, owing to the lack of appa-
ratus for collecting and separating them
from the other colors OF the spectrum.
Following up his theory, Guillaume
concluded that there was something in
the normal eye that resisted the X rays
and prevented their reaching the nerve
centers. The aqueous humor and crys-
talline lense OF the eye are as transparent
to ordinary light as the finest window
glass, but Investigations show them TO be
as impervious 10 The Y ray as a piece of
lead. This IS why the rays cannot be
seen.
In many cases of blindness, particularly
blindness caused by some accident, the
optic nerve is in perfect condition, but the
structure of the eyebaIl has changed. The
greater portion of it has decayed and
become, instead OF d perfect piece of
mechanism and an arrangement of refrac-
tory atoms. merely a piece of organic
matter like the tissue in many other parts
OF the body. In this condition it is plainly