Roentgen Rays Made Harmless

Nikola Tesla Tells in a Carefully Prepared Paper How They May Become Safe for All Uses.

DISCOVERY OF THEIR CAUSE.

It Is the Discharge of Small Material Particles, and He Advises the Use of Aluminum.

TREATMENT FOR THE BURNS.

It has been known for some time that Nikola Tesla has been making exhaustive investigations concerning the Roentgen rays, not alone for their use in scientific demonstration, but also for their effects upon the human system. He has made a number of valuable announcements before scientific bodies, notably before a recent meeting of the Academy of Sciences, and has made important communications through the HERALD.

Mr. Tesla has now given voice to his deductions, so far as he has determined them, in a long statement of his experience with the rays in to-day's Electrical Review, and in the course of it makes some announcements certain to create wide discussion and comment in the scientific world. Summing up his experimental experiences, Mr. Tesla says:—

FOUR CHANGES SUGGESTED.

It would seem advisable, first, to abandon the use of bulbs containing platinum, second, to substitute for them a properly constructed Lenard tube, containing pure aluminum only, a tube of this kind having, besides, the advantage that it can be constructed with great mechanical precision, and therefore is capable of producing much sharper impressions; third, to use a protective screen of aluminum sheet, or instead of this a wet cloth or a layer of fluid; fourth, to make the exposures at a distance of at least fourteen inches, and preferably to expose longer at a greater distance.

Mr. Tesla cites several instances of the injurious effects of the rays which have come under his personal observation in his laboratory, which go far to bear out the announcements, already made in the HERALD, of the manner in which the rays affect the system, but beyond this Mr. Tesla has discovered why the rays have this injurious influence, and the theory is as novel as it is valuable. He says:—

According to the evidences I am obtaining, the bulb, when in action, is emitting a stream of small material particles. There are some experiments which seem to indicate that these particles start from the outer wall of the bulb; there are others which seem to prove that there is an actual penetration of the wall, and in the case of a thin aluminum window I have now not the least doubt that some of the finely disintegrated cathodic matter is actually forced through.

These streams may be simply projected to a great distance, the velocity gradually diminishing without the formation of any waves, or they may give rise to concussions and longitudinal waves: This for the present consideration is entirely immaterial.

ENERGY SPENT ON THE SURFACE.

After his own painful experience with the rays, as well as their effect upon other persons whom he had observed, Mr. Tesla comes to this conclusion as to their effect beyond the surface.

"I come," he says, "to the very comforting conclusion that no matter what the rays are ultimately recognized to be, practically all their destructive energy must spend itself on the surface of the body, the internal tissues being in all probability safe, unless the bulb should be placed in very close proximity to the skin, or else that rays of far greater intensity than now producible are generated."

Mr. Tesla cites a case where the rays had a serious effect on one of his assistants, and incidentally gives the treatment for the burns produced. Concerning this he says:—

In a severe case the skin gets deeply colored and blackened in places, and ugly, ill foreboding blisters form; thick layers come off, exposing the raw flesh, which for a time, discharges freely. Burning pain, feverishness and such symptoms are, of course, but natural accompaniments.

An injury of this kind happened to one of Tesla's assistants following directly an exposure of five minutes at the fairly safe distance of eleven inches. Warm baths, free application of vaseline and general bodily care soon repaired the ravages.