March, 1911. 



KNOWLEDGE. 



85 



With regard td the conditions that are benefited more capable of withstanding the various and severe 

 b\- this form of treatment, it may be said that the stresses to which it is subjected, and is also pro\-ided 

 more superficial is the disorder the more likely is it to with a means of regulating its vacuum ; but it remains 

 be favourabh' influenced : 

 this is only another wa\' 

 of saying that the method 

 finds its greatest field of 



usefulness in the treat- 

 ment of the diseases of 

 the skin, and the results 

 that have been obtained 

 are at times quite remark- 

 able. It is a very fortunate 

 thing that it is among 

 those conditions that are, 

 as a rule, very resistent 

 to all ordinar\- methods 

 of treatment, that some 

 of the greatest successes 

 have been made. 



Of course. X-ray treat- 

 ment is not confined to 

 cutaneous disorders: their 

 field of usefulness is a 

 very wide one, but this 

 is scarceh- the place to 



enlarg 



upo 



n this side of 



m pnncipic as it always 

 was, and great as its 

 imi)r()vement has been it 

 lias not kept pace with 

 the development of the 

 electrical side cf the 

 X-rav equipment. Any 

 modern coil can com- 

 pleteh" wreck any X-rav 

 tube in a few seconds if 

 desired. Our greatest 

 want now is a tube that 

 is steady in action and 

 in \acuum, that will give 

 (lUt a certain (jualitN' of 

 radiation as requireil, and 

 no other, and contmr.e to 

 give this no matter how- 

 great power is applied to 

 It within the limit of 

 reasonable requirements. 

 With a view of meeting 

 some ot the conditions 

 it lias been suggested to 

 make the bulbs of quartz 

 instead of glass, but so 

 far no one seems to ha\e 

 attacked the problem 

 seriously. Ouartz is 

 much more transparent 

 to the X-ra\s than an\' 



the questi<in. It is, in 



fact, a pity that so much 



has been said upon the 



medical asyiect of the 



question but. for reasons 



that are obvious, its 



avoidance is a matter of 



some difficultw 



Before closin" this ,- ^ , ^ , i , , , i ■ i ■ pendent of an\' changes 



i:>eioie lio^hi,,., iiiib [.-[Q^f.^ 5_ A li.u uuc ui the lower end ot the radius involving ' - "^., 



article it ma\- be of the wrist joint. of temperature, and will 



interest to indulge in Thi> injury cmild not have lieen .-.aurately diagnosed e.vcepl with the assistance of Staild ally amOUtlt Ot rOUgh 



a little speculation as the x-r.ays. yg^„g ^vitliin reasonable 



regards future develo[)ments. While we have limits. It certainly should be well worth giving a 

 seen that improvements in the electrical appliances thorough trial, if only for the advantages already 

 have been soing on from the \erv beginning, mentioned. But even with these advantages it could 



form of glass, it is inde- 



and show little sign of an\- falling oft' in this 

 gradual but stead\' improvement, the X-ray tube 

 itself has undergone no radical change since 

 the invention of the focus tube bv Professor 

 Herbert Jackson. 



It is quite true that the X-ra\- tube of the [irescnt 

 day is a great improvement on the original Jackson 

 tube: it is larerer in size, more stead\- in action. ;ind 



not be said that the X-ray tube was in the nature of 

 a perfectlv satisfactory instrument. In the present 

 state of our knowledge it is very difficult to see how 

 the X-ray tube can be radically improved upon. 

 We can onlv wait patienth- : and for all we know- 

 some means of getting our X-ra>-s ma)- be discovered 

 that is much more simple and reliable, and 

 entirelv different from the methods we use at present. 



THE ROYAL INSTlTUTlOiX 



A Genek.\L Monthly Meeting of the Members of the 

 Royal Institution was held on the afternoon of 

 February 6th, The Duke of Northumberland, Presi- 

 dent, in the chair. Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Carpmael, 

 Dr. W^ S. Colman, Mr. Guv Ellis, Mrs. E. B. 

 Fielden, Dr. A. H. Levy, Mr. Basil Mott, Mr. 

 A. F. C. Pollard, and Dr. N. Raw were elected 

 Members. The Treasurer reported that he had 



received /],200. part of the legacy to the Ro\al 

 Institution of the late Miss Wolfe, and ;^'62 10s., a 

 portion of the legacy of the late Mr. C. E. Laxton. 

 The special thanks of the members were returned 

 to Dr. J. Y. Buchanan for his donation of £'100 to 

 the fund for the Promotion of E.xperimental 

 Research at Low Temperatures. The Institution has 

 recently received a gift of £1,000 from Dr. Muller. 



