Maech 6, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



345 



for foreign bodies. ISTeusser's experiments 

 were made upon objects outside of the body, 

 and of these the first telegraphic newspaper 

 reports were most confusing, many persons 

 being lead to believe that a calculus had 

 been photographed within a kidney in the 

 living subject. Prof. Neusser was able to 

 obtain a distinct picture of a phosphatic 

 vesical calculus through four centimeters of 

 calf's liver. Haschek and Lindenthal have 

 shown the fibrous bands uniting old injured 

 bones. Having injected the arteries in the 

 hand of a cadaver, they have shown a 

 method of making a plate which will be 

 useful for anatomical instruction. Lanne- 

 longue, of Paris, has diagnosed by this pro- 

 cess tuberculous arthritis. Cox, of Mon- 

 treal, early in his investigations, secured 

 the picture of a bullet in the calf of the leg; 

 the bullet, which was afterward removed, 

 being located between the tibia and fibula. 

 Buckshot has been found by Pupin; needles 

 and glass have been pictured by several ob- 

 servers and afterward removed. Eobb, of 

 Trinity, diagnosed a luxation and fracture 

 in the hand of a patient who was under 

 treatment for another condition. Eontgen 

 has recently prepared a picture of a frac- 

 ture of the forearm with much displace- 

 ment. Lodge has a picture showing a bullet 

 in the wrist. Of the tissues of a cat, Eeid 

 finds bone the most, and cartilage the least, 

 opaque. It is reported by the Lancet that a 

 thigh bone attacked with osteomyelitis has 

 been pictured. A skiagraph of a suppressed 

 and a rudimentary phalanx is shown in 

 the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal 

 of February 20, 1896. The writer has 

 been able to discover in a living subject 

 a doubling of one of the carpal bones and 

 those of the corresponding first row of pha- 

 langes, in a case of polydactylism, with 

 webbed fingers. The same picture also 

 showed osseous union at the tips. In 

 another case ankylosis of the terminal and 

 middle phalanges of a finger is seen. And 



so the list might be increased by observa- 

 tions made throughout the civilized world, • 

 as wherever these experiments have been re- 

 peated physicians have naturally seized 

 upon the opportunity to benefit the patient. 



Carbutt, of Philadelphia, suggests that 

 celloidin films may be moulded to the con- 

 tour of the body, thus facilitating the taking 

 of a picture of the thicker portions of the 

 arm, the leg, or the trunk. He is also pre- 

 paring plates which will be peculiarly suit- 

 able to the action of this form of energy. 



In conclusion, let me cite a few of the 

 many instances in which this discovery 

 may be useful in medicine and surgery. 

 First. In the diagnosis of luxations and 

 fractures, at times a difficult or impossible 

 procedure, it will be possible, in certain 

 cases, to picture a fractured bone, reduce 

 and dress it, and afterward secure a skia- 

 graph through the bandages, thereby demon- 

 strating bej'ond doubt whether there has 

 been proper approximation of the ends of 

 the bones. Again, it may be practicable to 

 fix the time at which union has taken place, 

 and to determine accurately the amount of 

 osseous deposit that has occurred on the 

 bone, it being a well known fact in surgery 

 that this union takes place in a longer or 

 shorter time, depending upon age and in- 

 dividual peculiarities. The distortion of 

 bones when pictured upon different planes 

 might doubtless be overcome by the use of 

 mirrors, or other apparatus. 



Second. Certain foreign bodies, as glass, 

 bullets and needles, may be diagnosed not 

 only in the extremities, but in other parts 

 of the body. A jackstone lodged in the 

 larynx, or a set of teeth, penknife, coin, in- 

 tubation tube, etc., in the intestinal tract 

 might be revealed bj' a careful study of the 

 plate. Eenal and urinary calculi may pos- 

 sibly be located under favorable conditions. 



Third. It may be possible to distinguish 

 in certain cases an adulterated from unadul- 

 terated drug, e.g., some tinctures permit the 



