The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-12-10
is scarcely known outside of scientific cir

is scarcely known outside of scientific cir
Giles.
While medical men in this country are
naturally greatly interested in this matter
they are as yet somewhat in the dark as
to lust what the invention is. They know
that it is a mechanical device in when
electricity plays an important part, but
d.. Stems refusal to divulge the full Sc
cret of his discovery until he has put IL TO
. every possible test max careful CONSUL
Grafton Of the subject extremely dlfflcult.
From DR. Stems description of the inven-
ton, however, and from the report OF the
semi-public tests that have been made one
ds inclined to believe that the achievement
is by no means impossible. IL cannot De
denied that the inventors theory Is correct
and 1t only remains for him to prove that he
has discovered a meaps by which he can
take advantage of this fact in nature to
overcome one of the most terrible misfor-
fumes that can be visited upon man.
In describing the nature of this discov-
ery I can do no better than to quote DR..
Stems own words. He sayss
MAN does not really see with his eyes
but with his brain. The eyes are only an
instrument for receiving images, which are
conveyed to the center of perception in the
brain by the optic nerve. The blind man
who perceives the size, shape and nature
of an object with his hands sees in limited
sense If men had evolved without eyes,
INIT with all their present brain power, they
would doubtless be able to see by some 9TH
err method Some of the lower animals
have no eyes but perceive lights with their
whole bodies.
"Now If an image OF material OBJECTS can
be conveyed to the brain by some other
agency than that of the eyes 1t follows
that a blind man who has a sound mind
will be able to see perfectly WELL This Is
exactly what my invention accomplishes.
IAN image is gathered on screen instead
- nn6 &c
ed directly by an electrical current to the
brain. Such a use of the electrical current
has already been foreshadowed in the pro-
cess we'll known to science as cataphoresis.
BY this 1t is possible to convey medicines,
anesthetics and other substances into the
interior of a mans body without his being
aware of It, BY its aid cocaine can be sent
through the solid bone, conveying insensi-
bility to nerve or marrow.
"My invention may be compared In GER
tain respects to the telephone which re-
ceves an impression of the human voice
and reproduces 1t artifcally somewhere
else.
1.-THE full development of this invention
and the principles upon which 1t Is based
will lead, I hope, to many wonderful re-
suits. The invention will not only be valu-
> eole in enabling the blind to see but 1t Will
convey the image of a scene miles away,
Just as the telephone conveys the voice. In
a slightly varied form 1t will enable the
deaf to hear.
at may point out that the mere fact that
I'VE can see images in our dreams, in the
dark and with our eyes closed is proof of
the possibility of seeing without eyes as
I'VE at present understand them"
In order to fully understand the nature
of the difficulties that must be overcome by
the inventor of such an instrument 1t Is
necessary to know something of the con-
struction of the eye. To use a crude IL
lustration the human eye may be compared
ito a camera, a camera in its simplest form.
It has an outer transparent part which
is called the cornea. The colored portion Is
the iris. The black spot In the middle of