Omaha daily bee., 1897-01-03
ON The EDGEz9E THE FUTURE
OPINIONS OF SOME HIGH AUTHORITIES
rs
Important Achievements and DcNcl-
opmcnts Furccnstcd by Leaders
of various Departments
of Science.


copyrighted 1896, by s. s. Mcclure Coz
1t is general idea among scientific men
that we are on the eve of great scientific
discoveries. This idea has been engendered
| by the scientific developments Of the past
year. Some of these have been in meas
ure epoch making and are likely to provide
humanity with many things Of the highest
utility which 1t does not now possess
subjoined are some opinions from men
Of known emnence and authority in their
respective speciaties as to what, of special
scientific and industrial value. the year just
begun seems likely to bring forth
FUTURE OF THE X RAYS.
l believe the future development OF the
X rays phenomena will be in the direction
of surgical diagnosis. 1t is as great boon
to mankind as the invention of the ophthal-
moscope and just as the latter instrument
has proven It's worth from the first day
| to this and has saved thousands of people
| from total blindness so will the X rays
be beneficial to the human race and save
life and limb of thousands of sufferers.
1t will, of course, need to be greatly i'm
proved. The ole essential quality which pre-
vents us so far from applying 1t to the
densest part of the body with perfect sue
cess Is its propensity for travelling in
entirely absorbed by intervening bodies
Light rays do not necessarily go through all
substances as is well known, and they are
not all absorbed, except when falling on
certain substances which are called from
their appearances dead black 1t being
practically impossible to reflect X rays to
any great extent we might still resort to
difusing them, that is, to allowing them
to be thrown back from any surface in
more or less regular way. Such feat
would enable us to inspect special sections
Of the body, which we arc not now able to
inspect with considerable accuracy.
Concerning the harmful physical effects OF
X-rays spoken of so much recently, do not
believe 1t to be, as has been asserted, the
result of chemical action. As we go along
the light spectrum the chemical effect gets
weaker and weaker as we approach
the violet and ultra violet light
That some persons have really suf-
fered, however, is an indisputable fact, but
think it Is the result OF mechanical erfec s.
The atmospheric dust particles surrounding
the X-ray or CroOkes' tubes, are charged
with electricity and have a tendency to be
thrown violently away from the tube. They
would constantly strike the skin and within
a comparatively short time greatly irTtate
it, person working constantly with these
rays should therefore protect his hands with
gloves and his eyes with glasses. That Y
rays may be utilized for other purposes such
as metallurgy. chemistry, etc, is the fond
hope of many eXperimCnters, but il does not.
[ think, present an encouraging field for re-
search in this direction
NV MAX osTERBERG.
NEW USES OF COMPRESSED AIR.
No other branch of science, with perhaps
the exception of the X-rays has made such
advances in the pastiyear as compressed air.
AS a result of the Efforts of the manufactur-
ers of air compressGrs, a large number of
have adopted air as means of power trans
mission. I |.H
The Third Avenue railroad and the Met
ropoitan railroad company have experiment
ed with both the Hardie and Hoadley mo- |
tors, and the results are proving satsfac- |
torily One or Uncle Sans crack gunboats |
the Terror, has been fully equipped with
compressed air apparatus. for the operation |
Of its machinery and the firing of guns Con-
tractors are using the compressed air CEN |
tral plants, the most notable instance being |
the excavation of the Jerome park reservoir |
in New York. and running the Pullman
Palace Car company's shop tools at their !
Pullman shops. both plants being run almost |
entirely by air. Water is being pun ped, |
coal, iron, gold, silver, marble, granite and |
nearly every metal Is being mined ly air |
power. The volume of technical literature |
has been augmented by the appearance of a |
quaint little magazine devoted to the use !
full application of compressed air.
An air conveyer that carries material |
along on an ar cushion has been patented. |
Innumerable hoists and sundry machines |
to take the place of hand and ST cam power |
have been adopted.
An Office building in New York has been |
equipped with compressed air, that its
tenants may take advantage OF its many
applications which range from the clean
ing of carpets to the cooling OF the temper
ature in the offices. Another building in
Chicago runs all its clocks by it, For the
future, and perhaps within the coming year,
we may expect to see important develop
ments. A practical and economical motor
is needed. Street railways will probably
look into its merits. Conservative manu-
facturers who have held aloof will follow
the example of the progressive ones and
adopt it. The era of compressed air is upon
us and we will soon use it as plentifully in
the industries of the world as we now use
our tender nurse, the air" each moment
of our lives A. Il. KENNEY.
OF ELECTRIC POWER.
One of the greatest electrical develop.
ments in the past year has been the
utilization of Niagara Falls for producing