"X" RAY DEVELOPMENTS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXX, Issue 184, 6 August 1896, Page 4

"X" RAY DEVELOPMENTS.

TEMPEBANCE OBJECT LESSONS. ' DEtfOBMATIONS OF HUMAN BEET. Research with the aid of the " X " or Rontgen rays is proceeding apace, and the latest developments afford reason for hope that in the! near future the. -rays -may bs used by doctors for the purpose of diagnosing disease in the internal organs of the body instead of their, usefulness being restricted, as is the case at present, to showing faults in .bones or discovering the exact situation of foreign bodies suoh as needles and ehot. Some Berlin scientists suc- / ceeeded recently in making the rays reveal certain details of the heajd and , , ithelaryni, end especially the process of breathing and the action of the heart. Experiments in this '■• direction have been made before - witiiont success, . but now that the difficulties hitherto found to exist have once beea got over, it is* quite possible, perhaps even probable, that the usefulness of the rays will be largely increased. Miss Frances Willard, the celebrated American temperance advocate, evidently believes to, for at a recent meeting in London of the National British 'Women's Temperance Association, ■ she, said the "X" rayß were "to be utilized immediately for revealing the, prooess of deterioration as it develops, drink by drink, in the drunkard's stomach 1" • I'hose intent on reforming the onstom of the fair sex in the matter of wearing corsets will aIBO have a new weapon, and, no longer relying on diagrams, will be able to exhibit photographs, in which the effect of ; tight lacing will, no doubt, be vividly aet forth by means of these remarkable rays.' The agitators for "eom-mon-sense" .boots as againßt the . narrow-pointed articles, whioh still ■remain fashionable in spite of all that has been said against them, mil rejoice at the experience of Miss Elizabeth A. Banks, a smart young Amerioau woman journalist, Jiving in London. Miss Banks in pursuit of scientific knowledge^ and " copy," lately had her feet photographed by the "X" rays. The result was hardly gratifying. "In the portrait of the foot in the stocking— the texture of whioh, by the way, showed up wonderfully— the bones of the toes, whioh," says Miss Banks, " should naturally be straight and separated, were crowded one upon the other, while the portrait of the foot that was shod was still more terrible to contemplate. The boneswereßoueezedupinto the shape of a triangle— to fit my American pointed boot.' 'Are you . sure the "X " rays don't exaggerate ?' „ I aaked.in horror-struck tones. 'The ' .."X " rays are like figures— they oannot lie,' was the solemn answer." Determined to know the worst and learn if her feet were much more deformed than those of other people, k Mißs Banks demanded that she should be shown, every portrait thephoto.grapherß had of people's feet. Six or ' ']' eight portraits of feet were brought to her, and she records with infinite ■ {delight she found several that were j-fery much more unshapely than , vher^pwn. *' I also noted," she adds, .i't' with feminine satisfaction, that the •J • pn'ptograpb.B of men's feet showed 1 ? '•*' the' bones' to be quite aa badly: out of ; ( shape as were those of my own sex," ,' v jiomewhat r cheered by these revela-