320 THE NEW WORLD OF SCIENCE 



art foreign bodies were more accurately located than they had 

 ever been before. Several very simple and accurate methods 

 of locating the foreign body within a fraction of an inch, 

 rapidly applied without long mathematical calculations, were 

 perfected. Too, the roentgenologist became an anatomist as 

 well, and not only could he give the depth from the skin surface 

 at which a foreign body lay, but he could locate it further by 

 its relations to well known anatomical landmarks. By aid of 

 the roentgenologist, the surgeon could also cut directly down 

 upon and remove under X-Ray vision, by means of the lluoro- 

 scope, a foreign body which might be small, difficult to find or 

 difficult of access, without such direct X-Ray vision. Thus the 

 roentgenologist has become in operating a most valued and im- 

 portant assistant of the operating surgeon. 



As a product of the war there was also perfected a portable 

 bedside X-Ray unit, capable of taking excellent roentgeno- 

 graphs and of being used with the fluoroscopic screen. This 

 operates from the ordinary incandescent lamp socket or wall 

 plug. No longer is it necessary, during convalescence and the 

 progress of union, to move a patient with a fractured bone to 

 determine the position of the fragments. This can now be 

 done at the bedside without moving or disturbing the patient 

 in the least, with the consequent risk of displacing the fragments 

 which such moving entails. X-Rays will be taken more fre- 

 quently during the mending process. Any displacement will be 

 corrected early, fewer cases of vicious union or non-union will 

 occur, and better results in fracture work will result. 



While there has been, perhaps, no distinct advance in the 

 treatment of wounds of the cranium and abdomen when oper- 

 ated, lives have been saved by early operation of these cases. 

 Formerly, due chiefly to the too long interval between the time 

 the patient was wounded and the time surgical aid was avail- 

 able, the teaching was that expectant treatment non-operative, 

 fhat is, merely meeting symptoms as they arose resulted in 

 saving more lives than operation did. This has now been 

 reversed. Improvement in evacuation methods, and the moving 



