The Portland daily press., 1899-05-25
PRINTING BY X RAYS.
A Process That Is Apparently Destined
To BE Success
(Boston Transcript

George Izambsrd, who has been exper-
imenting in Paris with the Roentgen
rays, In the hope Of adapting them to
commercial use In the printing industry,
announces that he has succeeded In nro-
ducing q machine for the purpose. He
reasoned that II the Y rays would pene-
trate oaken logs they ought to penetrate
piles OF paper, and that as photographs
could be taken with X rays 1t ought to
be possible to reproduce picture or
printing through every sheet of u pile of
paper. The Invention is so far matured
paper between two Crookes tubes and
print both sides of all uhe sheets in the
pile at the same time. he can also place
a series of piles of pager around Crookes
tube. making use OF the X rays by radi g.
ating them from a center. 1t was sug-
gested many years ago that the printing
of the future would be done by electrici-
ty, operating not on single sheets, but on
all sheets of pile at the same instant.
Various inventions have made some ap.
proach to a solution of tho problem, but
none of them has been successful In pro.
ducing satisfactory printing. NJ. lam
bard's first success was obtained by SEN
sitizing the paper, on the side that was TO
be printed, with a gelatino-brom emul-
sion, such as Is commonly used In pho
Biography. pile or block of paper thus
prepared was placed In n position OF OK.
posture to the y rays. On top of the pa
per was placed copy of the thing to be
printed. The copy being proof to the X
rays, In trice the thing was done, and
ON developing the pile of paper the In.
ventor found a copy clearly printed on
each sheet. To print In this manner II
ia necessary that the copy or original
shall be- nearly impervious to the Roent-
gen rays, and that 1t shall be placed be-
tween the Crookes tube and the pile,
where the rays may be directed to it.
The copy Is preferably first printed or
written In what Is called photographic
OF X-ray proof ink, composed of ma
ter.al calculated to intercept the rays.
pile of paper, but IL Is at first invisible
and requires to be developed or liked
after the method of PHOTOGRAPHERS. The
piles of exposed sheets ara trundled into 9
red light room and suspended In watts,
where the developing and liking liquids
are applied. Rinsing and drying follow,
and the latter may be hurried by mechan
ical and chemical means. 1t is apparent
90 at the PROCESS Is really u soTo Vi WHole
sale method of photography with the X
rays, and is printing only in the photog
raphic sense of the term. The inventor
admits that there is difficulty In print
ing on one side only of the paper, owing
to the tendency of the print to show
through on the reverse side. He proposes
to overcome this by sensitizing the paper
In stripes, printing the lines on the
stripes, and causing the lines on on'
side of the paper to fall opposite the
spaces between the stripes ON the Other
side.
The X-ray proof ink used is made in
part of finely divided metallic or calcsr-
GUS powder. Bronze, copper, white lead
or white zinc may be used. AS writing
ink white lead In a solution of gum ha:
beep found most satisfactory. When TIL;
matter to be printed Ia first typewriter
the metallic powder is mixed with boiled
linseed oil.