The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1901-12-29

has given results more wonderful than al
the medicines; more radical than the knife
1t Ia by another form Of the ray that
tuberculosis Is treated. To say that con-
sumption Is now being cured by q con-
trivance that looks like a brass mortar with
a glass end may sound frivolous. but II Ia
none the less true. II Is asserted.
This piece Of artillery, IS inches In diam
eter and 20 inches long, Is a condensing lamp.
from h concave rejecting lens in the back
Of which is reflected an electric light Of
1900 candle power. This light il thrown
upon a blue glass screen, which cuts out
most Of the heat rays.
Behind this screen sits the consumptive.
his breast barred to the rays. A 14-inch
circle Of his Ghost is covered by the
light, and no is kept there for about an hour
at a time.
Like the Finsen ray. the light produces
absolutely no sensation. but it has this
popularity, lacking in the other ray, that
the patient usually succumbs to drowsi-
ness after a few moments, and falls asleep.
Its effects are almost Immediate: the
c~onsumptive's temperature falls; his cough
improves; his night sweats pass off: he
gains weight, appetite and strength. and
In the course Of time the tuberculosis bacilli
which have been present in great numbers
In his lungs disappear.
Some very striking cases have been
recorded In the medical journals. One
man came for the treatment hen ap-
parently almost gone; he vas utterly ex-
hausted after walking a block. He had
n temperature Of i04 degrees n a racking
cough, and was little more than a skeleton,
Furthermore he had not the slightest faith
In the treatment.
After he had taken four maps behind
the blue glass screen his temperature went
down to 100. In the first week he gained
four pounds. In the second W, elk he gained
four more. and his cough had almost left,
A week later he was able to walk four
miles without discomfort. and at the end
Of two months when he was discharged
as cured examinations Of his approximations
failed to discover any tacilli.
The theory Of this light cure is more
definite than in the case Of the Finsep ray:
consumption is known to I've a germ disease,
whereas cancer IL still a mystery. Sum
light kills tuberculosis bacilli: and 1t Ia
supposed that the ray that penetrate
the blue glass screen act in the same way,
More thar this, IL is believed that they
strengthen the phagocytes. These phago-
cytes are minute organisms In the blood
which act as scavengers. 1t Is their bust
ness, when any m~alevolent germ enters the
system, to hasten to the spot and eat II.
Were il not for their ceaseless activity
we should all die Of consumption, as tuber-
culosis bacilli are present everywhere.
The consumption cure ray, so the theory
Is, increases the phagocytic appetite TO
such an extent that no germs can stand
before it.
In this age Of swiftly-spread progress,
the y-ray is already an old story. Many
experimenters have tried il in man. diseases
with varying effect. Perhaps its most
successful field is in conjunction will the
Finsen raw. in cases Of cancer where the
centre of the trouble is internal.
The patient is put under the X-ray for
fifteen minutes. and then subjected to the
Finsen ray for an hour. The X-ray tends
TO disintegrate the tissue. and thus the
Finsen raw is enabled TO penetrate and
extend the healing influence to the centre
of inflammation.
But physicians are coming to fear THIS
mvstei ious agency to which the discoveTcr
gave the appropriate idLie "a ~ ~ boohH
ing the unknown. II passes through the
skin and outer flesh only to destroy inner
TISSUES, and often TO start gangrene in
the interior. SO it il not now much
used as a healing agency, but rather as
an auxiliary.
What the future Of light thorapy Is 10
be no one can say now. II il said TO have
mastered cancer and consumption IL many
casc-. II has been tried with success IN
smallpox and scarlet fever. II Is beng
tIia' IN leprosv cases.
4 celebrated Russian surgeon announces
that he has usad II with success az ala amos
! tl.tIc for ~, face operation, ana 20 ds-tHi
healing Of bum, wound and torc-. But
II l. A. a gCrmiciie that II holds out 'h"
greatest hop"
Many phv-ician~ believe that ia time.
Vlrn its principles %! action are under
. stood. % viii lc directed successfully 20
th, destruction 81 all germs, and tl'' not
only tuberculosis, hut pneumonia, cholera.
/ tysHoid fewer, tD'tuu-. lud".ed, most ~
/ the deadly ilir that hr~h II heir 10. WI
disappear tcfurr n and he wiped 81 ih"
-. q .. - -4H 80 A..HI