Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1897-06-11
WHOLE NUMBER l,943.
TELEPHONE POSSIBILITIES.
The Time Near " hen Patients May
He I" dag gnosed,, by Wire.

The Time Near " hen Patients May
he ss Diag nosed,, by Wire.
The time is coming when the great
specialists in heart and lung diseases
will make diagnoses upon patients
hundreds, perhaps thousands, of miles
away, and with the same unerring ac-
curracy that the trained ear insures in
the private office. The time when
this will be done is not far off, says
the New York World. In fact, it is
possible to-day, though not commor-
cially practicable. The instrument
which will bring around this revolu-
ton is the improved telephone.
Men are now at work following up
series of experiments made in 1884 by
the Bell Telephone Company, which
promises soon to make the exercise of
these extraordinary telephone powers
commonplace. In the year mentioned
a line was strung between New York
and Boston, with the most perfect in
sulation possible, and provided with
the most powerful transmitters and
receivers then available.
1t was found, to the surprise and de-
light of the experimenters, that it was
not necessary to place the lips to the
instrument to be distinctly heard at
the other end. The transmitter was
placed against the throat and CONVEX
sation was heard in Boston almost
as clearly as when the words were
spoken into it. The operator then
placed the transmitter against his
chest and was clearly understood over
300 miles OF wire. Going still further
in his investigation, the transmitter
was placed against the abdomen and
even then his words were audible in
Boston.
This, of course, meant that the Vi
brations Of the larynx, although weak
ened by distance and screens of tissue,
were yet strong enough to make rec
ord upon the delicate mechanism of
the receiver. But even more marvel
lous facts than these were brought out
which suggested the medical possibili-
ties of the instrument,
With this improved transmitter
and the perfect circuit a man in New
York could make enough noise in
Boston to be heard and understood by
man in the next room to the one in
which the receiving instrument was
set up. More remarkable still, the
tick of a watch and even the ordinary
breathing could be distinctly heard as
if the ear were close to the persons
mouth.
If this were fact twelve years ago,
with the improvements in the circuit
and instruments that are constantly
being made, hardly anything will be
surprising. The men who are making
the experiments promise to transmit
the beating of the heart and the action
of the lungs from a stethoscope placed
to the transmitter as clearly as if it
were placed directly to the doctors
ears.
What this means in these days
when the time of specialists is worth
enormous sums, when thousands of
dollars sometimes spent simply to
bring trained ear to the patients
chest is apparent at glance.
The great heart or lung specialist of
the future will sit in his telephone
closet, and as the time comes for an
appointment will put the receiver to
his ear and get connected with the pa.
tents internal machinery. Whether
the patient be in Jersey City or San
Francisco will matter not. The signs
of disease will tell their story to the
scientist. The great man notes his
observations with the patients name
and rings off.
There can be no imposing upon pro-
fessional patience with social CONVEX
sation under this system and not be-
ing obliged to 60 about to his patients
the physician can thus do double OF
treble the amount of work he can TO-
day.
With transatlantic telephones, which
are certain to come, the American
millionaire who is worried about lit
tie cough can have his respiration lis
tened to by all the greatest throat spe'
cialist in the world, one after the
other, without even leaving his bed in
his house.