The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-01-30
HEALING POWER OF LIGHT.
TESTS IN BROOKLYN OF THE FIN
SEN PHOTOTHERAPY SYSTEM.

cer-RemnrlabIe Results Obtained.
Apparent Cure of 81 Case Regarded
as IncurabIe.
From the New York Sun.
Some time ago the Sun described an in
vention of F'insen the Danish scientist,
for destroying germs and thereby curing
certain diseases by means of light rays.
This process is called probationary. Since
the publication of the article a photothe-
rapy apparatus has been constructed and
used by a Brooklyn physician, DR.. George
| G. Hopkins. 1t is the first ever used in
this country and has attracted wide at
tention from the medical profession. par
ticulary among doctors who are interest
ed in the treatment of cancer. A number
! of cancer specialists from other cities
/ have been present at treatments by this
I apparatus and to one of them the Sun
/ is indebted for a description of the cases
| that he saw.
The Finsen invention has already been
described; the apparatus in Brooklyn is
/ the same as the original with the eXcep-
tion of some unimportant details It's
! main feature is tube constructed like
a telescope, which directs a very power
4 full ray of light upon the patient. The
! light, which is electric, is of about 22,O0O
candle power. BY means of quartz lenses
the light is decomposed, the heat rays be-
/ ing eliminated and the actinic rays, blue,
! violet and ultraviolet being passed on
along the tube These are the rays which,
! directed upon the diseased part, act as
germicides. They have no effect upon
sound flesh. The tube is suspended from
4 l.A 81 -
any angle.
The physician who is the Suns inform
ant has had opportunity to follow three of
the cases closely and was familiar with
one of them before the phototherapy treat
ment was tried. This is the case of a
Boston woman who has had lupus vul-
/ garis the common cancer of the face, for
fourteen years. This is disease general
ly regarded oy medical men as incurable.
and all that tree tment has been able 10
do is to check its progress.
This woman was treated for about a
month";" l believe, says the physician.
THE reatment was daily and was the
same every day. DR.. Hopkins simply Sc
! lected the spot on which to work and di-
rected the tube upon it, holding it there
! for an hour. The rays covered a spot
about the size of a nickel; perhaps a lit
! tie larger and one treatment was all that
any one spot got. The cancer was bad
! one The woman's nose was very much
| swollen and her face was cancerated on
! the left cheek and up around both eyes.
The liberated points were extremely SEN
! stiVe and all the effected part was a
/ harsh red color At first the light seemed
/ to have no effect; but within a day or two
/ the spot operated upon lost its sensitive
ness, glazed and dried up, and presently
the cancerOus appearance began To disap-
peer and the flesh TO assume a healthy as
a nr5aI hot
good, sound flesh | saw several treat
ments of this woman and finally saw her
just before she was discharged as cured
and examined her face carefully Her
nose was reduced to its normal size the
liberated points had been eradicated. and
instead of the angry red of The cancer the
flesh Of the part affected was white in
fact, little whittier than the rest of the
face. The strong light had bleached it
l suppose. To all appearances it was A
I complete cure of a disease which we have
always regarded as susceptible only to the
knife. 1 asked the woman is she felt
| any sensation under the rays and she said
that there was no feeling at all.
| THE next case l saw was that of Miss
H. me lupus was on the back a rare
manifestation of the disease, and it was
a very malignant and offensive case The
noticeable feature in her case was that
the discharge was checked almost Instant
case was not completed, as the patient
While still under treatment was taken with
a disorder of the stomach, of which she
died. Another case upon which / saw the
rays used several times was that of man
over 80 years old. He is still under treat
ment believe but in a few exposures
to the light that he had undergone when
| saw him the progress Of the cancer mad
| been checked, the nodues were breaking
down and disappearing and patches of
! healthy flesh were taking the place of the
malignant growth. A curious thing in AL
these cases was that the eradication of
| the cancerous growth was entirely without
pain or soreness; the bad flesh seemed to
be absorbed and the good 20 take its place
81 found in watching the operation that
| was forced to wear very dark glass Cog
giles over my eyes. as the eye is unable
to endure light of such power and the
rays of The light that escape from the
frame before going through the decompos-
ing process Az painfully dazzling even
when one is turned away from them. DR.
Hopkins has to wear goggles also, and
the patient too. Nor were the glasses
alone sufficient protection to the doctor
Where the light ESCAPED from the frame
it fell upon the top OF his head and took
the skin off like a bad case OF sunburn
That was, of course, the undecomposed
light. The operating rays do not burn.
and, indeed, seem to have no effect what
ever, as far as / could Judge. where they
touch sound flesh. One evening as / came
out Of the house while DR. Hopkins was
using the rays | found a crowd watching
with wonderment the brilliant flashes that
could be seen through the window shade
and debating whether TO turn in fire
alarm. Seen in the dark night those
flashes were an astonishing and somewhat
alarming spectacle.
"Finsen says that smallpox, scarlet
fever and other germ diseases can be
cured my phototherapy DR.. Hopkins has
tried his apparatus only on lupus vulgaris
thus far, but ! believe he intends to ex-
pertinent on other diseases later. Only
external cancer can be trea ted successfully
with he rays. as the light does not pene-
trate far"