Science Notes.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXV, Issue 31, 10 December 1897, Page 6

Science Notes.

NEW USE KOlt X-RAYS. Dr. S. Milmngton MiLijiiit, of this city (says a New York paper) has rcceivtd an account from Paris of a successful diagnosis of pleurisy by means of the Rfmtgen my. The account says that at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences. December 21, Professor Charles Bouchard, of L'Hospitale de la Charite, described his diagnosis of pleurisy by the Eontgen ray. If the chest (thorax) of a man in good health be placed between a Crookes' tube and a phosphorescent screen, the skeleton of the thorax appears on this screen in the form of a vertical dark band with parallel edges, with less dark oblique bands on each side, which represent the ribs. In addition, on the right siie of the vertical column, at about the middle of the dorsal region, there is a shadow, pioduced by the heart, in which pulsations may be perceived. Lastly, the shadow product! by the liver, which is convex above, lises and sinks in the thonicle cavity, with the respiratory movement-. Apart from these shadows, all the rest of the thorax appe r-j in white on both sides. The dividing membrane between the heart and lun^s. ma-ked by the ver i-'al column does not show. In tlur iy patients sutteiing from right pleurisy with effusion he found that ilie side ot the tuora-c occupied by the pleural liquid pivciti d a dark tint in sh.up contract with the light colour ot the healthy side . that, it Ihe i ilusiou dul not fill up the entire cavity, the apex of this side was light, the lUrlc tint answering exactly to the upper limit ot the etiiwmi. as <U'terminr d by percussion and o her means of physical wa muafon ; that this tint gets darker and (l.ukerin proporu.m a. o'ie proce-n.-, iiom 'he upper hunt, where the cilusiou is thiuiK'-t. tow, ml th lower t trata. where it is thicker, tl.e dark tint niixi g with tli.it ol the- liver. ]lo aKo a-cu'Uiued thai .11 ilk^c cases of right pleurisy the mediastinum, w hich 1- not, peioeptible undu noiinal condition", threw a shadow on the leit, ot the viit-bral column, in the tonn i)i a tii.mgle, with the ap^x upward, the base being continuous with ihe shadow of tlic heart, which showed that the inediastinuin had been displaced toward the healthy bide of the thorax by the piv^uro ot the ei.iu-.ion. Dr. Bouchaid s iy& : "Tneie is very reason to believe thit examination by means ot the lLontgen rays will be found useful in medicine as in surgery." Theoi- conclusions throw an entirely new light on the possible medical use-* of the iuw ray. a aionstj:i{ (jlojje. One of the most remarkablo objects at the Paris exhibition of I'.HH) will be an innr>o ise terrestrial glub'of UOtt diameter, the inteiior of which will contain live 110 u-s, on which there will be model* and lvpresi ntations of the in o-,t interesting features of the diil'eront countries ot the world. Commencing at Paris and ending at Melbourne an electric railway will carry the spectators througn the entire woild in .sdunn*. The journey trom France to England i> suppo-cd to be made undt r tlu 1 IJuy h-h Channel, through a tunnel which will be lopre-ented by an aquar v.v <^itt. long, wli.cii will contain live specimens, ot the principil ediblo lishes. Four external g.Jleiius will allow an inspection to lie made ot the outride of the -plieie. winch will be marked with the usual {Wgraphii al divisions. Uii tin- ti.p ol tluglob' will be a tti' i\ t, sHi'uiouuu dby a figure of I'r nice e',.l,gh ciuhl' the v. oild, the e^tivmo height ironi the ground to tin- top ot th" figure beni.; SUltt. The jirmcip il materials of cjn.s.tructio.i will be iron and ste -1, and the estimated cost is C'MO.ooo. It is expected, however. Jrom n comparison of the iiuaiuial ri'turns ot the 'ufi'el Tower, that a sum ot £450,000 will be received from ail minion iocs and other sources. This vast work was c mcoivcd, and is bring carried out by M. Borgel-Court, a wellknown watch manufacturer ot Geneva, whose versatility is shown by his capability < f fabricating the most minute and delicate machineiy or constructing one of the grandest works of modern engineering.