SUN RAYS—ABBOT 173 
The striking results obtained in the treatment of surgical tuber- 
culosis by Doctor Rollier at his Swiss solar sanitarium are indicated 
by the following table: 
Results of light treatment in surgical tuberculosis (Rollier) 
Cured Improved 
Per cent Per cent 
Skin tuberculosis 81. 25 18.75 
Bone and toint. =. .2-5=-2- 75. 98 7. 80 
Glandular_..__-.- 89. 80 5. 20 
Peritonitis---..- 80. 30 8. 20 
Uenito-urinary_- 77. 80 22. 20 
Tare Tie ge el ee ee ee ee ae er oe ae 52, 94 33. 00 
Total mortality 0.9 per cent. 
X-ray photographs, after the light treatment, give striking evi- 
dence of the effect upon bone formation. According to Rollier, 
finger bones that have entirely disappeared may be so completely 
recalcified as to be indistinguishable, in radiographs, from normal 
tissue, and adults seem to be as easily affected as children. This 
means that, for early cases at least, the disease can be checked, 
and motion preserved in the affected joint, the gradual establish- 
ment of motion going hand in hand with the healing process. 
Rollier insists on the fact that the benefit is always proportional 
to the degree of pigmentation. Without knowing accurately which 
wave lengths are responsible for pigmentation, and which are most 
beneficial in the treatment of tuberculosis, it is not possible to be 
very sure in this matter, and here as in plant physiology an alliance 
between the doctor of medicine and physicists, expert in isolating 
rays and exactly measuring radiation intensities, would be of great 
advantage. 
The subject of the influence of sun rays on plants and animals 
has only recently come to the fore. Doubtless the future holds 
in store for us here, as in other lines, highly wonderful and inspir- 
ing revelations of the importance of sun rays in the welfare of man. 
