Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1907-08-21
VALUE OF The x-RAY.
Within Decade It Has Become Al
most Indispensable 70 Surgeons.

most indispensable 10 surgeons.
AS an adjunct to surgery the Roent-
gen ray has become indispensable,
and there are few surgeons in Amerf-
ca today who do not employ it as a
diagnostic in their general practice.
The conduct of many operations which
are now performed with comparative
ease was rendered extremely difficult,
if not impossible, before its introduc
ton. BY its use it is possible to de-
termine the nature and position of
fractures, the presence of foreign
bodies, and the surgical treatmea.
necessary; by its use, also, the con-
dition of the heart and lungs can be
learned, and the size, position and
shape of the stomach and its 'n:,s
tines determined with considerable
accuracy. tuberculosis, pneumonia.
heart trouble, diabetes and various
disorders of the bladder and kidneys
can be recognized sooner by this than
any other means, and their progress
oitcn arrested at an earlier stage than
would have been possible before its
advent.
There are, unquestionably, many
eminent ply sicians in this country
who hold that as therapeutic agent
the Roentgen ray has accomplished
comparatively little, and that it has
signally failed to fulfill the promises
made for it in it's infancy, but those
who are employing it in their daily
practice find in 1t a powerful lieuten-
ant in the treatment of various dis
orders, for many of them, before the
advent of the Roentgen ray, no prac-
tical remedy had been prescribed; in
fact, it is an open question whether,
at the present moment, it is not ac-
complished as much as a therapeutic
as it is a diagnostic.
There is probably no ailment to
which flesh is heir to so destructive
or so widespread as consumption
the great white plague. Indiscrimin-
ate in its tastes, it attacks rich and
poor, black and white, with almost
equal fatality. During the past few
years determined stand has been
made against this disease by the
medical profession, and every new
agency which seemed to promise even
temporary relief has been faithfully
tried Two of the most important of
these are Koch's tuberculin and Mara
gilano's more recent injection of spe
cific tuberculous bacilli directly int,
the lungs'-a specific obtained by in.
1ecting bovine animals with water
extract of living tubercular becilli, anC
extracting a serum therefrom
AS an auxiliary in the treatment of
this disease the Roentgen ray has
proved particularly valuable, especial
ly in the first and final stages. While
in the final stages the inevitable end
has never been averted, the homorr-
hayes, night sweats, and fevers have
been controlled, the pain has been
allayed. the general condition made
more comfortable, and in many cas- IS
the patients life prolonged. In Tho
earlier stages the appetite, weight,
and strength have been materially in
creased, and the general condition so
improved as to enable the patient to
make much better fight against the
progress of this dread affection.
Has consumption been actually
cured in its incipiept stages? is a
question few physicians would be
ready to answer in the affirmative at
the present time. but many, no doubt.
have their private opinions. 1t is GER
tainly an indisputable fact that per.
sons possessing many of the prelim-
mary symptoms-some, even, who
have been advised to that last resort
OF the consumptive-the sanitorium-
have been apparently cured, and with
the passing of time there has been no
recurrence of the malady.-Van Nor.
dens Magazine.