THE STORY OF NINETEENTH 

 CENTURY SCIENCE 



CHAPTER I 

 SCIENCE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CENTURY 



NOT many months ago word came out of Germany of 

 a scientific discovery that startled the world. It came 

 first as a rumor, little credited; then as a pronounced 

 report; at last as a demonstration. It told of a new 

 manifestation of enej^v, in virtue of which the interior 

 of opaque objects is made visible to human eyes. One 

 had only to look into a tube containing a screen of a cer- 

 tain composition, and directed towards a peculiar electri- 

 cal apparatus, to acquire clairvoyant vision more won- 

 derful than the discredited second sight of the medium. 

 Coins within a purse, nails driven into wood, spectacles 

 within a leather case, became clearly visible when sub- 

 jected to the influence of this magic tube; and when a 

 human hand was held before the tube, its bones stood re- 

 vealed in weird simplicity, as if the living, palpitating flesh 

 about them were but the shadowy substance of a ghost. 



Not only could the human eye see these astounding 

 revelations, but the impartial evidence of inanimate 



