The San Francisco call. [volume], April 25, 1897, Page 19, Image 19

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

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THE LATEST PHASES OF X-RAY INVESTIGATION
Why the Mysterious Radiance Is Visible to
Some Blind People
Instead of diminishing as the days go by ;
interest in the X ray is constantly on the
increase and any new theory as to its ori
gin, action or results is eagerly seized upon
by medical men, electricians and the pub
lic in general, ln some way the X ray has
not proved all that was expected a year
ago, but in others it has surpassed the
wildest conjectures as to its possibilities.
It has been shown that it 13 not a play
thing to be used by anybody, and it has
also been demonstrated that in experi
enced hands its field is almost boundless.
Ever since Professor Roentgen made
the discovery oi the existence of the X ray
scientific men have constantly been expe
rimenting to ascertain why the wonderful
rauiance is invisible to a normal oye.
Powerful enough to pass with ease through
a piece of three-inch oak the human eye
cannot see it While it is shown that a
space of many cubic feet around an active
Crookes tube must be a perfect glow of
light, as far as the human eye is concerned
it is perfect darkness. Truly this is mys
terious.
For a long time the generally accepted
theory was that the vibrations of the X
rays were too rapid for the human sense
of vision to grasp. It was estimated that
this was a trillion times the vibration of
ordinary whita in daylight. Then came
the astonishing statement that many blind
people experienced the sensation of light
on looking at a working Crookes tuba. To
be sure they saw no objects, but the fact
that they were able to distinguish light
was something wonderful.
Charles Guillaume, an eminent scientist ;
of France, has just issued a circular in re- ;
gard to tbis aspect of the X ray that seems ;
reasonable in many ways. Experiments ;
have also been made in this City that show I
the correctness of his reasoning. A copy |
of the circular in question has been re- •
ceived by Professor Van der _<aillen of the ]
School of Engineering, and he has only
been too willing to (show it to those inter
ested.
In Lis circulars Guillaume states that
he was led to his investigations by the
acknowledged connection between the X
ray and the ultra v.olet rays of the
spectrum. it has been shown photo
graphically that the ultra violet rays ex
ist, and yet they cannot be seen by the
human eye. Whether they are also capa
ble oi penetrating solids is still a matter
of conjecture, owing to the lack of appa
ratus fur collecting and separating them
from the other colors of the spectrum.
Following up his theory, Guillaume
concluded that there was something in
the normal eye tbat resisted the X rays
and prevented their reaching the nerve
centers. The aqueous humor and crys
talline tense of the eye are as transparent
to ordinary light as the finest window
glass, but investigations show them to be
as impervious to the X ray as a piece of
lead. This is why tne rays cannot be
seen.
In many cases of blindness, particularly
blindness caused by some accident, the
optic nerve is in perfect condition, but the
structure of the eyeball has changed. The
greater portion of it has decayed and
become, instead of a perfect piece of
mechanism and an arrangement of refrac
tory atom-, merely a piece of organic
matter like the tissue in many o;her parts
of the body. In this condition it is plainly ]
The Oldest Brick Building In San Francisco
On the southwest corner of Merchant and Montgomery streets -
stands an old, weather-beaten, two-story structure — a pioneer of
1850 — the oldest brick building in San Francisco. It has an
annex on Merchant street, erected a year or so later, and on its
facade workmen have been engaged for several weeks past in
stripping off the old mastic or cement covering, which has been
gradually peeling off for years past and falling at intervals to
the imminent peril of the headgear of passing wayfarers. Now
it presents a rejuvenated appearance, with afresh coat of cement.
Of these two old landmarks, familiarly known to the pio
neer as the Naglee building, work on the
one on the corner of Montgomery and
Merchant streets was commenced on May
11, 1850, and the structure completed four ;
months after. Its owner then — Captain
Henry M. Naglee— was graduated at the
head of his class at West Point in 1835, and
after serving a few years in the Fifth
United States Infantry he resigned and
took up the occupation of a civil engineer
and surveyor. At the outbreak of the Mexican War Nagleo
girdled on his sword and fought valiantly in Old Mexico, and
while hostilities were still progressing was commissioned as
captain of Company D, First Reyiment of New York (Steven
son's) Volunteers and arrived in Verba Buena (now San Fran
cisco) with that regiment in Marcb, 1547. During the War of
the Rebellion he served with distinction as major-general of
volunteers. United States army. As a manufacturer of fine
brandies he is well remembered by old-time connoisseurs and
vivants. in th old Naglee building was held the first ses
sion of the United States District Court lor
California, and a view of the present sump
tuous quarters of the United States District
Court and those of its attaches in the Ap
praisers! building taken in comparison with
those of 1851 leads one to reflect upon the
improvements made in courtrooms and
clerks' and marshals' offices in the cycle of
time now verging on close to a half century.
Judge Ogden Hoffman Jr. was the first
Federal Judge to preside in California, and on March 19 1851
within the old walls of the Naglee building be ordered his com
mission as Judge of tho United States District Judge for the
Northern District of California to be spread upon the court min
ute*. This old-time parchment bore the signature of President
Millard Fillmore »nd was attested by Daniel Webster, Secretary
ol State. David F. Douglass .was the First United States Mar
shal and his deputy was George Perm Johnston, well known as a
newspaper writer in journalistic circles. Tne first United States
Grand Jury was also impaneled in this building, in tho latter ■
part of 1851, and after serving two days
brought in twenty indictments against
Captain "Bob" Waterman, familiarly *. JJ]y.t-r.
known as "Bully" Waterman, of tho ship
Challenge, and his chief mate, Douglass.'
They were charged with murder in one in
dictment and in the otbers with cruelties
practiced on the crew of that vessel. Learn- . ....
ing that Perm Johnston was after him with
warrants of arrest, Douglass "took to the
woods." There was intense excitement in the community at
his escape. Marshal Douglass offered a reward of $1000 for bis
capture and about a week after Colonel Jack Hays, Sheriff of
t-'in Francisco, assisted by a deputation of sailors, captured the.
male near San Mateo concealed in the bottom of a farm *
wagon, on his way to Monterey, where Mate Douglass contem
plated shipping on a brig to escape justice. Both captain and
mate, although acquitted of the murder charge, were ; heavily >
fined on the other indictments.' Among the attorneys in* 1851
"■ho had offices in the court building was A. P. Crittenden, who
' seen that it will offer no more resistance
to the X ray than a portion of skin, ana
that if the nerves are still perfect, the
rays will reach them and the sensation of
light be conveyed to the brain.
To ascertain the correctness of Guil
laume's theory several experiments were
made for Tue Call on both normal and
blind eyes. Professor Van der Naillen
Kindly loaned his apparatus for this pur
pose, and the results have been more than
enough to show that Guillaume is on the
right tracK at least. What the future will
develop remains to be seen.
For these experiments the eyeballs of
different domestic animals were used,
most of them being obtained in Butcher
town as soon as the killing was done.
There was the greatest uniformity of re
sult observable in ail the tests.
In the first experiment the naturally
blind eye of a calf and also a normal eye
of the same animal were placed side by
side on the same plate and given exactly
the same. time of exposure. They were of
course developed at the same time and
printed on the same sheet of paper.
The proof showed the normal eye simply
as a dark spot, with a slight indication of
1 the crystalline lens appearing a little
', darker than the other parts. The conclu-
I sion to be reached from this is that the
rays could not pass through the "eye. Tbe
biind eye, on the contrary, freely per
mitted the passage of the X rays and ap
peared quite light, with considerable dn
lerentiation of the layers. Tnere was a
slight indication of the lens and also sev
eral spots that were meaningless. But the
difference between the two eyes was ap
parent at a glance.
Experiments were also made with the
eyes of sheep and rabbits and the results
were about the same in all cases. The
normal eyes came out perfectly black in
all instances, but the blind eyes showed
different comparative shades, owing, of
course, to the condition of the tissues.
Experiments were also made with eyes
artificially blinded. From some the lens
was removed and others were injected
Radiograph of normal eyeball of calf, show- I
ing that the X rays cannot panetrate ie to the
optic nerve, consequently there is no sensa- '
tion of light at the visual center of the brain. i
THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, APRIL 25, 1897.
with enough ammonia to destroy the na- ]
ture of the tissue. , : ft "_-
On the whole the results of these tests
were similar to the others. The normal
eyes showed dark and the artificially
blinded eyes permitted the passace of the
rays in spots, possibly such spots as were
acted on by the injected chemicals. The
Radiograph of blind eyeball of calf, showing
that -tittle resistance is offered tne X rays so
they can reach the optic nerve ana no produce
the effect of light. .
removal of the lens was clearly shown,
although the aqueous humor that re
mained showed as a dark plane.
The eyes of sheep and rabbits did not
give as good radiographs as those of
calves and sheep," for the reason that they
were much smaller and the differentiation
was not as plainly indicated. Still, in
every instance the results showed that
the X rays passed through the blind eyes,
more or less, but were resisted almost
entirely by the healthy eyes.
"But what use is all this?" some might
ask. The answer is, possibly a great deal
and possibly none* It may be very useful
at opening up new fields in the study of
radiation which will be of great use in the
future. It may be all wrong and can only
be put down as so much timo wasted in
the study of science. -yi-y
But it would seem as if it would be use
ful in determining the extent of an
afllieted person's blindness. It has been
demonstrated from time to time that per
sons who have lost the sight of an eye
through some accident have nearly al
ways been able to sco the X raj*. This
would prove that the nerves were not in
jured, and that if the eye could be re
paired sight would be restored.
Cases of people blinded from other
causes might be tested if the physician
could determine the condition of the eye
ball. Should he be able to ascertain that
it was in a condition to allow the X rays
to pass through it, and the person still he
unable to see them, 1: would show that
the nerves wero dead and blindness por
mnn?nt. On the other hand, if the sensa
tion of light was experienced, and there
was hope of repairing the eyeball, there
could be little doubt of a permanent re
covery. The assurance of this would un
doubtedly be a great help to the patient.
Will Sparks.
A Possibility That the Rays May Be Ex
amples of Universal Force
About one year ago the scientific and
unscientific world was startled by an an
nouncement that a professor in the uni
versity at Wurzburp, Germany, had dis
covered a means whereby the hidden in
| terior of the human frame might be ren
dered visible. Professor Wilhelm Konrad
j Roentgen, while engaged in electrical ex
; periments, discovered that certain "rays"
; penetrated opaque bodies and produced
J effjets analogous to those produced by
j rays of light upon a sensitive photograph
i plate, although the plate was inclosed in
1 a plate-holder. In other words a perfect
| outline picture was produced without cx
i posure to light. *yA\
Unable at the time to definitely deter
mine the chemical, mechanical or other
attributes of the rays, the term X was
given them, X standing for an unknown
quantity. Since their discovery a great
many people have satisfied their curiosity
regarding the rays, and have learned that
it is quite easy by the employment of the
ray to produce a photograph of the bony
structure of the body, or of coins, etc.,
hidden within a box or purse. The flesh
of the body and the substance of the box
or purse offer no impediment to the pas
sage of the X raj-.
These remarkable happenings, involv
ing a sudden setting aside of all previous
conceptions of the limit and power of
human vision, however artificially aided,
were sufficient to confer upon the newly
found power a reputation bordering on
the miraculous, and it is not improbable
that many people believe that with the
use of the X ray it i 3 possible to see for
long distances through walls of bouses
without number. It is to assist in creat
ing a proper idea of what the new dis
covery really is, what it is capable of
doing, and to what extent the knowledge
of its qualities and abilities may modify
our present conception of natural physics
that this article is presented.
All forces of powers are termed energy.
The science of physics uses the term "ra
diant energy" as meaning energy pro
ceeding outward from a source and pro
ducing effects at some distant point. The
energy may be transmitted by its actual
transfer to the distant point of matter, as
the flight of a bullet from a gun; or it
may propagate itself along a line by the
motion of the particles of the media
through which it operates. If you lay a
number of marbles in a row, touching
each other, and then strike one end of the
row the marble at the distant end will
move away. All the marbles intermedi
ate between the one struck and the one
moved will show no movement. Each
one transfers the energy it receives to the
next one, no one undergoing mere than
very slight displacement. This is the
movement of ordinary lieht ''wave mo
tions." The former, represented by the
flight of the bullet, is that of the X ray.
The X ray is ptod tied by the employ
ment of a glass globe from which the air
is almost but not quite exhausted. Two
wires enter the globe through its glass
sides. One of the wires terminates inside
the globe in a small concave disk ; the other
wire has on its end, within the globe, a
small platinum plate set at an ancle of
forty-five degrees. A current of electricity
of very high frequency and potentiality,
obtained either from the secondary wire
of a powerful induction coil, or from a
static machine, is sent through the glass
globe, the anode terminator being
attached 10 the wire having tho pla
tinum plate, and the cathode to
the other, and while the current passes
there is thrown off from the platinum
plate what is known as the X ray. Al
most every schoolboy is familiar with the
fact that if a wire carrying a current be
broken a spark will occur at the break.
For convenience in distinguishing tho ter
minals of an electric circuit, the end giving
off a negative current is called the cathode
and the positive the anode.
In the operation of the arc light it is
found that the anode carbon forms a cup
like depression on its end and is decom
posed more rapidly than is the cathode,
showing that a stream of force pastes
from the cathode. Hence in experiments
upon electrical emanations, especially in
•S.mplf farm of Focus Tube.
Imhroved -form of Focu.l Tube.
vacuum tubes where the energy becomes
luminous, the cathode ray is the impor
tant one. The X rays are radiant ener
gy. They are possessed of a singular di
rectness of purpose. m they cannot be di
verted or turned from their path, refracted
nor reflected, ns may be rays of heat and
light and sound. They are not the cath
ode rays reflected from the platinum
plate, for the cathode rays pass completely
over to the anode terminator to form the
circuit. They induce chemical action in
certain classes of matter, as a photographic
plate. They cause fluorescence when they
fall upon certain substances; that is, the
substance"* plow with light when the "X"
rays strike them. The rays are propa
gated in straight, direct lines, and are not
susceptible of polarization, as are those of
lieht. They discharge all bodies either
positively or negatively electrified, the
former more rapidly than the latter.
The immediate results, the application
of the discovery to the needs of surgery,
naturally receive * greatest popular atten
tion, for a most wonderful knowledge has
suddenly been bestowed upon the practi
tioner. Not only foreign substances, as
was shot and killed by Mrs. Laura D. Fair on the ferry-bo*
El Capitan in November, 1874, and his law partner, Samuel W.
Inge, the first United States Attorney for this district. Judge
A. Glassell, who is now passing his declining days in afflu
ence at Los Angeles, also practiced law in the Naglee building.
On the second floor Dr. Hugh H. Toland, the well-known
surgeon, also had apartments frora 1850 to the day of his death,
some fifteen years ago. The owners of the present building,
the sole tenant of which is now a printer, intend fitting up the
interior of the structure to harmonize with modern times.
Already the old iron railings which pro
jected from the windows on Merchant
street, reminders of pioneer architecture
have been ruthlessly torn from their fasten
ings and consigned to the junk heap. The
bricks in this old building were well made
and laid in a good bed of cement and mor
tar, as is evidenced by their lasting quali
ties at this day. It cost Captain Naglee
$140 per thousand to lay the brick and the
fcrtisans employed by him— carpenters, masons, etc. — received
from $15 to $20 a day, according to their skill.
A Remarkable |JeWspaper.
Mr. Edward Randlett of Alameda has in his possession a
relic of the Revolutionary days which he holds more valuable
than money. It consists of a copy of a newspaper prinied*27
years ago. The paper was the seven hundred and ssventy
' ninth number of the Boston Gazette and County Journal. 'its
editorial page announcements remark that it contains "the
fresheft advices, Foreign and Domeftic.'*
and bears the date of Monday, March 12,
1770. It is a four-page paper about -0x24
inches when open. It was the first issue
after the Boston massacre, which occurred
the previous week after the paper went to
press. This subject is given two columns,
including naif a column of explanations.
Edward and Francis Archbald, William
Jj:jJ , Merchant and John Leech Jr. are given the
credit of bringing on the conflict, which occurred shortly after
9 o'clock at night. ■ "*:^ Ijy'J^JJJy..
Among the most notable features of this ancient paper as
compared with the papers of to-day is the lack of headlines and
the editorials in the first column ot the front page. Not a head
line appears in the whole issue. Reports of a meeting of free
holders of the town of Roxbury is given. It was called "to
know the minds of the Town, whether they will do anything to
ftrengthen the hands of the Merchants in their Non-Importa
tion agreement."
The advertisements are unique as wel
as ludicrous. One, Smith offers a reward
for money lost between his residence and
the residence of Widow So-and-So, detail
ing the hours between whicli it was lost.
The legal ads would be the laughing stock
t' ; of tho followers of Blackstone to-day.
It is said that the only other copy of
this piper is in the Smithsonian Institu
tion, Washington, D. C.
There is a. lady in Augusta who has never heen from
under tne old Confederate flag. Her name is known, but by
request it is Withheld. Whether walking, eating .or -sleeping,
there i-< always a Confederate flag over her head. While walk
ing on the streets there is always a fleg in her hat, and, no mat
ter how many hats or bonnets. she has, there is always to be
found a flag pinned on the inside of the crown. On the head
post of her bed is securely fastened a large "flag of the Con
federate States. The flag is as necessary for her as three meals
J; a day. * She says she has never surrendered and never. wilL
bullets, needles, etc., in the human body,
are accurately located. Out the healthful
or unhealthful condition of the internal
organs may be discerned and determined
by the use of the X ray. If nothing
else had resulted from Professor Roent
gen's discovery, this alone must place It
in the front rank of valuable acquisitions.
Bnt it is the further fact that much of the
action of the ray is bounded by totally un
known law, which arouse speculative in
quiry among scientists.
The question is. What bearing has the
newly discovered physical manifestation
on our preconceived notions of the phy
sical universe? It is one that awakens
profound contemplation among students
of the sciences.
What are these rays? They originate at
that point on the platinum plate where
it is bombarded by the cathode ray. They
are in some . respects electrical in char
acter and in others not. They seem to
follow some of the known laws governing
light, and again disregard them.
There is an increasing tendency among
investigators to assert that the primal
cause of physical manifestation, the
universal force, is some form of electrical
energy. What is termed space, the space
between the planets, is said to be filled
with ether, but just what ether is no one
seems to know. Some say it is matter;
others say it is not. Phenomena occur in
the ether, light is transmitted throngh it,
perhaps formed in it; electric and mag
netic phenomena, attraction and repul-»
sion have their field of action in it.
The X ray is the product of electrical
energy and is manifest only in vacua ap
proacning that of spac-*, and its force in
creases with the reduction of temperature.
In many things it exhibits fts greatest
powers under conditions which approach
the conceived idea of interplanetary
space. Did Roentgen discover a means of.
making actual exhibition of the universal
force? May it not lead to the positive de
termination of the vexed question as to
the character of the ether? Common air
consists of two gases oppositely electrified,
which if decomposed would expand enor
mously. The single fact of the X ray's
ability to discharge electrified bodies is
pregnant with meaning, for, by its opera
tion along this line it may be found possi
ble to utilize such action in the generation
of dynamic ener.-y to wort machinery.
It may be possible to employ some modi
fied application of the X ray to disrupt
the molecular bonds of the gases, and
then power will become unlimited.
F. M. Close, D.Sc
Summer LVenirvg.
The sky ls aglow with colors untold,
With a triumph of crimson ana opal and gold,
And wavering curtains woven of fire
Are hung o'er the portals of Day's Desire.
The sun goes to rest in his western halls
And over the world the twilight falls.
The breezes sleep on the grassy pond,
The shadows rove through the grove beyond;
| The robins carol in rapture of love,
And the martins dart through the splendor
above. :-.-jj>
Oh twilight marvel! mysterious hour!
Our hearts are swayed like the sea by thy
power! Nathan Haskell Dole.
— • — •—
South Africa has about 750,000 European
and 3,005,000 colored inhabitants.
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