May Medicate Rays - Nikola Tesla Hints That Streams of Chemicals May Be Projected Into the Body

WILL PRODUCE SLEEPINESS.

Odd Effects Noticed While Making Radiographs of a Human Head.

BOMBARDMENT BY PARTICLES.

New Problems Presented by the Scientific Investigator of Roentgen's Discoveries.

Nikola Tesla, the electrician, since Professor Roentgen made known his discovery of X rays has been experimenting with them. He has been pursuing his researches on his own lines with tubes of his own make. His results and conclusions Mr. Tesla has made known in the current number of the Electrical Review. In connection with his communication the Electrical Review prints two remarkable radiographs.

One shows the right shoulder of a man taken under very severe conditions, as he wore his clothing and between him and the sensitized plate there was a plate of glass three-sixteenths of an inch thick and two inches of wood. This radiograph, which was made at a distance of four feet from the source of the X rays, shows the ribs, shoulder bones and bones of the upper arm.

The other radiograph shows a copper wire bent to form the word "Roentgen," and was I made at a distance of eleven feet from the wooden slide covering the sensitized plate.

Mr. Tesla states that the rarefaction of Crooke's tubes, used in these experiments, may be increased by electrical means to any degree desirable — to a degree far beyond that obtainable by mechanical appliances.

VELOCITY OF THE RAYS.

In regard to the nature of X rays, he says: "I am getting more and more convinced that we have to deal with a stream of material particles, which strike the sensitive plate with great velocities. Taking as a basis the estimates of Lord Kelvin on the speed of projected particles in a Crooke's bulb, we arrive easily, by the employment of very high potentials, to speeds of as much as a hundred kilometres a second. Now, again, the old question arises: — Are the particles from the electrode or from the charged surface generally, including the case of an external electrode, projected through the glass or aluminum walls, or do they merely hit the inner surface and cause particles from the outside of the wall to fly off, acting in a purely mechanical way, as when a row of ivory balls is struck? So far, most of the phenomena indicate that they are projected through the wall of the bulb, of whatever material it may be, and I am seeking for still more conclusive evidence in this direction."

"It is now demonstrated beyond any doubt that small metallic objects or bony or chalky deposits can be infallibly detected in any part of the body."

HOLLOWS IN BONES PICTURED.

Tesla has secured radiographs showing the bony structure of birds and rabbits, even to the hollow of the bones. He has secured a radiograph of a rabbit after an hour's exposure, in which not only every detail of the skeleton is visible, but also a clear outline of the abdominal cavity. The location of the lungs and the fur are also shown.

Radiographs of large birds show the feathers distinctly. In another instance an exposure of forty minutes gave a radiograph of the human skull, showing clearly not only the outline, but the cavities of the eyes, chin, cheek, nasal bones, the lower jaw and connections to the skull, the flesh and even the hair.

"By exposing the head to a powerful radiation," Mr. Tesla says, "strange effects have been noted. For instance, I find that there is a tendency to sleep and the time seems to pass away quickly. There is a general soothing effect, and I have felt a sensation of warmth in the upper part of the head. An assistant independently confirmed the tendency to sleep and a quick lapse of time. Should these remarkable effects be verified by men with a keener sense of observation I shall still more firmly believe in the existence of material streams penetrating the skull. Thus it may be possible by these strange. appliances to project a suitable chemical into any part of the body.

"Roentgen advanced modestly his results, warning against too much hope. Fortunately, his apprehensions were groundless, for, although we have to all appearances to deal with mere shadow projections, the possibilities of the application of his discovery are vast."

PROFESSOR MORTON'S SHADOWGRAPHS.

At his laboratory, in East Twenty-eighth street, yesterday Dr. William J. Morton made a picture of the bones of the hand, in which the hollows in the bones of the thumb were distinctly visible, and thus, then, was obtained a confirmation, though not so intended, of the results of Mr. Tesla's experiments mentioned. But, it was explained, the shadowgraphs delineating the hollows in bones show that the central portions of bones are less dense than the outer hard or ivory-like structure. The Roentgen process, it is therefore argued, by properly timed exposure will delineate the interior of the bone as well as the exterior and thus indicate the presence of any disease there. In this way the X rays will be of incalculable value to medicine and surgery.