The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-02-15
M1LDER MILITARY SURGERY.
striking Success of the Rontgen Ravs
IN Battlefield Operations by English

Striking Success of the Rontgen Ravs
IN Battlefield Operations by English
Doctors.
Inc interesting and important subject
OF the use of the Rontgen ravs in mil;
tary surgery was dealt with last night
DIT the meeting of the Rontgen Society.
IN the rooms of the Medical Society.
Cavendish Square, by Major ]. Bat
tersby, Royal Army Medical Corps
Major Battersby was engaged with the
eXpeditionary force In the Soudan. and
at the battle of Omdurman. and most
OF MS work was actually performed in
the hospital at Abadir. Mr.. Mansell
Mullln, the President of the society
was was in the chair, and there was
large attendance. The Chairman
briefly introduced the lecturer. Major
Battersby, at the outset, said that he
mad been indebted to Mr.. Mackenzie
Davidson, with a modification of whose
apparatus he had been able to locate
many deep-seated bullets in the Soudan.
He did not expect that they knew less
about x rays than he did, but he was
glad to state that the Army Medical
Corps were largely using the x rays
in their work, and that now every mil
itary hospital was fitted with the appa-
ratus.
The system has been utilized bv
Major, Beevor in the cold of Chitral
and he himself had used it in the In
tense heat of the soudan, so that it had
been tested in the extremes of heat and
cold. 1t was, however, necessary to
cover the coils with felt, and keep them
constantly damp. He referred to the
differences of opinion as to the use of
the rays, but he himself had no doubt
that they were of invaluable assistance
in locating bullets in shot wounds, but
there was this to be said that diff
culties arose in the deep-seated parts
of the body. He did not doubt further
that they would be of great value in
surgery, especially in locating assesses
and the like. He turned chiefly to the
use of the rays in practical military
surgery. He mentioned as a curious
fact that often the wrong side was
operated upon, owing to it being for
gotten that the skiograph reversed the
picture of the injury. In fractures Of
the pelvis the rays had not helped the
surgeon much, but they had been found
most useful in the case Of inquiries to
the knees. Much useful information
would result If a systematic examina-
ton was made in every case Of sus-
pected fracture Skiography would es-
pecially save many a child from per-
manent dislocation of limbs and it had
111n f,t1 rr-1,4r 4,
foreign bodies, which were opaque to
the rays AS lead was one Of the latter,
the rays were Of great value to the
military surgeon.
In twenty-one cases Of British wound
ed after the battle of Omdurman, where
the position of the bullets could not be
located, twenty were found by means
of the rays and the only exception was
that of a lung wound, when the patient
was too ill to be examined. The sur
geons in charge of the field hospital
bore high testimony to the value of the
and they found in it a probe
which was painless, certain, and anti
septic. Some sixty observations were
made in the Sudan with the result that
each case, it was found had to be dealt |
with on it's own merits. They had To- |
Called most of the bullets by system |
of cross autographs, and by a modifl-
cation of the Mackenzie Davidson's To-
apparatus. He recommended a
light apparatus for field work.
The greatest difficulty was the Gre |
alton of the current but in the Soudan |
they had used dynamo driven by a |
tandem bicycle. Screen work was most ,
important in field surgery, as it enabled |
the operator to explore any part of the |
body without delay. After the lecture
the Major threw on the screen a num-
Der of highly interesting photographs
and autographs taken during the recent
expedition. The Field Hospital at
Abadir, on the Nile, just before dust
storm overlook it, made it a weird and
curious picture. Some of the skiograp hs
wildly showed how severe were wounds
received from dervish bullets, the bones
exhibiting bad fractures in many places
while on the other hand the usefulness
If the rays was demonstrated in the
Ease of wounds received from spent
bullets. These latter in the skiograph
we're made clear at once, owing to the