PROGRESS IN RADIOGRAPHY. 159 



From the very discovery of the X rays, Monsieur Contremoiilins, 

 at that time preparator to the Faculty of Medicine, has by the em- 

 ployment of reasonable and scientific methods attained the best results, 

 which have been described in his numerous communications to the 

 academies. He was the first to obtain clear images of the cranium, 

 the thorax, and the pelvis. AMiile studying with the late Dr. V. Le- 

 moine on the possible applications of radiography to zoology and 

 paleontology, he made marvelous images of bony structures and radio- 

 graphs of fossils, which have never been surpassed. Applying the 

 X rays to anatomical study, he obtained by injections of metal into 

 the vessels clear radiographs of the arteries and their ramifications in 

 the finger tips. Images of the muscles of the hand he got in a similar 

 manner. 



I do not wish to neglect in this article any of those who are work- 

 ing with radiography, and who, through their publications or their 

 communications to the learned societies, are accredited with having 

 created something good or interesting. If I fail to mention them, I 

 will appear partial, which I am not; if, on the other hand, I do 

 cite them by name, I must necessarily characterize with a word or 

 so the value, defects, or insignificance of their work. 



Doctor Beclere has written and spoken much on the X rays, 

 especially on radioscopy, wdiich must not be confounded with radi- 

 ography. In this connection let us look for a moment at the prin- 

 ciples of radioscop3\ Under the action of X rays from a Crookes tube 

 a screen treated with platinocyanide of barium is completely illumi- 

 nated. Now, if a hand is interposed between the Crookes tube and this 

 screen, the image of the hand will appear on the screen, not, however, 

 as a mere silhouette, but with the flesh, muscles, nerves, and veins, 

 and bones shadowed more or less deeply according to their resistance 

 to the rays. Thus may be seen on the screen the bones of the thorax, 

 and some of its organs, like the heart, whose movements ma}" be 

 discerned without difficulty. 



Such a method of investigation and analysis is naturally seductive. 

 "Whether it is really as valuable as radiography is a many-sided ques- 

 tion and one which I hardly care to discuss here; so I content myself 

 for the present with a single statement. The radioscopc in a limited 

 number of cases, such as the study of the movements of the thoracic 

 organs, is of incomparable value aud in a few other cases is comple- 

 mentary to the radiograph. 



Doctor Guilleminot is the author of a really original and thorough 

 work on chronoradiography. The value of his method and its pro- 

 cesses is another question I am unwilling to attempt to settle; facts 

 are already beginning to indicate a lack of success, but time alone will 

 determine its legitimate place. 



