The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1936-01-09
Health
Anniversary
OfX-Ray
BY LOGAN CLENDENING, MD.

january Is D 1dLuOuS udy al
the history Of medicine, and,
indeed, in the history Of civiliza-
ton.
This year we end the fourth
decade Of the first announcement
Of the X-ray to the scientific
world. In January 9, 1895, before
the Physical-Medical Institute of
Wurzburg, the professor Of phys
les, Wilhelm Konrad Rontgen,
demonstrated the discovery. which
he had made q few weeks before,
that a certain kind of a light gen
Grated in a vacuum tube would
pass through opaque substances,
including human flesh:
The president Of the society,
Prof. Kolliker, volunteered to al
low a photograph of his hand to
be made. This photograph, which
plainly outlined the bones. was
the first one made in public,
demonstrating to the world that
this seeming imposSibility was
real.
Great Strides
In the 40 years that have gone
by, it has been amply demon
strated that this discovery is one
of the most important advances
ever made in medical science. In
the Nineteenth century, the only
advances which equal 1t are the
discovery that germs cause certain
diseases, the introduction of an
esthesia, the perfection of the
microscope, and the extension OF
its powers to examine human It's
sues which are diseased path
ology), which are normal This
tology), and which are developing
(embryology), the invention Of
the StethoScope, and the perfec-
ton Of aseptic surgery and child
birth.
These were, indeed, great
strides. Nothing that has BEEN
discovered in the Twentieth cen
fury comes waist high to them in
importance, and in previous cen
turtles only the discovery of vac
cination against smallpox, the dis
covery Of oxygen, the discovery of
the circulation of the blood and
the foundation Of human anatomy
(1543), are single achievements
which can be compared to them4
These are the 10 great medical
advances, of which the modest pro.
fessor in Bavaria added the last
40 years ago.
Many Uses
At first the only use that could
be found for the X-ray, except as
a toy, was in diseases of the bone,
but it was not long until it ex-
tended into other fields. First it
was suggested that stones in
various cavities of the body, which
are frequently so difficult to dag
nose, would throw a shadow on
the X-ray plate, and so it proved.
Then by improving the quality
Of the tubes and the technical de-
vices, rays SO Selective could be
formed that they would show dis
ease, such as tuberculosis, in the
chest.
The American psychologist, w.
B. Cannon, showed that certain
metal salts which looked white to
the eye would throw a black
shadow on the x-ray plate, and
when mixed with a meal would
show the outline of the stomach
and bowel. Today there is hardly
an organ in the body that cannot
be made to impart important in
formation when properly pre-
pared for the X-ray photograph.
1t is, however, not only in dag
nosiS that it has been valuable.
but also in treatment. The skin
specialist could not get along with
out it, and in the treatment Of
malignant growths it has taken
its place with radium, the emana-
lions OF which are similar, as an
equal to surgery in treatment.
Editors Note: Six pamphlets
by DR.. Clendening can now be OBJ
tanned by sending 10 cents in coin,
for each. and a self-addressed en-
velope stamped with a three-cent
stamp, to DR.. Logan Clendening,
in care Of this paper. The pam
phlets are: Indigestion and Con-
stipation," Reducing and Gain
ing" Infant Feeding" "Instruc.
tons for the Treatment Of Dia-
betes," Feminine Hygiene" and
THE Care of the Hair and Skin"