Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1901-09-19
FOR XRAY CONGRESS
RADIoGRAPH PROGRESS DUR
ING PAST FIVE YEARS.
Great Benefit Shown in Treatment of
tuberculosis and Cancer-Dan-
ger from Careless Use.

greSS 1Or the purpose OF exhibiting and
comparing the results which have been
effected during the five years which
have elapsed since the famous discov-
cry of DR.. Roentgen was made.
In no fields have the beneficial results
OF the discovery been more potent than
in those CT medicine and surgery.
When the rays were first experiment.
ed with 1t was found to be a compare
lively easy matter to pass them through
solid substances, such as wood and
stone, and this at once established their
permanent value as an adjunct or ally
to the practice OF surgery.
Sanguine practitioners INDUCED In
the hope that some day a vastly wider
and more important field would be
made operative through the use OF the
Trays and that by utilizing them for
throwing light into the soft tissues OF
the body deadly diseases might be dis
covered and probably cured in their in
fancy.
We have now arrived at stage where
this is done as easily as the bone was
penetrated half decade ago Some of
the more advanced experimenters with
the rays now claim TO be able to detect
the existence of certain diseases before
the ordinary symptoms develop and be-
fore they have passed that primary
stage in which they are easily combat
able. Recent diagnoses with X-rays
show that the various calculi of the
bladder, gall sac and the kidneys may
be located. BY this means the surgeon
can tell exactly when to operate upon
the kidneys.
Through the medium of X-rays the
incipient stages OF consumption are
now an open book, a portrayal of the
exact condition OF the lungs being pos
sible at any moment The Paragraph
will instantly show the cavity of the
lung or space filled with liquid and also
an adhesion. 1t is even claimed that the
lupus has been destroyed by direct and
continued application OF the rays
In one OF the Partisan hospitals a
patient was recently under treatment
and observation for three months dur
ing which time the lungs which had
been attacked with lupus In several
places were restored to their normal
condition and the patient discharged as
cured. During the entire period Of
the treatment the patients lungs were
under observation and the details CT
the experiment will make one Of the
most important reports at the congress.
Since the first Crooke's and Geissler
tubes vast Improvements have been
made and those now in use leave little
to be desired The penetrative power
has increased with the development OF
the tube and now good picture of the
thickest parts OF the human body can
be had with few minutes exposure.
The more recent forms of tubes secure
an automatically adjusted vacuum by
enclosing substance which may be
vapori8ed by heat.
The new universal coil invented by
DR.. Rollins gives sparks Of all lengths
up to the maximum length of 13 inches,
and the horizontal glass tubes contain
multiple spark gap. BY proper ad-
justmsnt OF these the right spark gap
for the tube may be exactly obtained.
The primary coil is also made movable
so that it may be slid in and out by the
handle and the inductive action made
weaker or stronger as necessary.
Perhaps in no direction has the value
Of the X-rays been SO practically de-
monstrated as in the field hospitals OF
South Africa. The operating surgeons
there are one in tsstifying to the i'm
mense saving in time and suffering ef-
fected by the use of the X-rays.
One of the latest developments in
surgical photography comes from Can
ada. Apparatus had been perfected by
means OF which the combination Of two
photographs will show the location OF
the object sought at the intersection OF
two lines drawn through the body OF
the patient, but the discovery of DR. G.
p. Girdwood of McGill university SIM
plifies this system very much. This in
vestigator has succeeded in making
stereascopic photographs. Two ex-
posures, one after the other, are taken
from points 2 l-2 iches apart. These
points are exactly located and the tube
placed with exactness in the positions
determined for it. BY this means the
two exposures are m de exactly alike
and the plates are also developed as
precisely alike as possible. THESE
plates are particularly valuable in the
case of dislocations and fractures as
the stereoscopic view shows the precise
location of the disturbing fragment OF
bone and renders ii an easy task to
make the setting with certainty. an I'M
mense advance over old methods. One
of the peculiarities of these pictures is
that they are reversible; looking at the
slide from one side the view is front
one and from the other is ii rear
view.
From time TO time the public Is
startled by the welcome intelligence
that the Xrays have been successfully
used to combat that bane of the human
race. cancer.
That successful results have been OBJ
tanned by their use vii he actually
proven by the data to be submitted
nj the coming congress by practitioners
who have successfully experimental
with ii.
For years II has been recognized that
cauterization Yves the only practical
deterrent to the growth OF cancer and 1t
has been more or less possible to con-
troll cancerous growths appearing upon
the surface. Observations with the n
ravs have been so far mainly conhed
to such cases as the possible danger or
using them internally has 10 certain
extent held experiments in that direc-
ton. SEA MUM pibb' " -