POWER OF X-RAYS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 67, 21 March 1938, Page 8

POWER OF X-RAYS

VISIT TO HOSPITAL SKELETONS AND SKULLS MARVELS OF THE FLUORESCENT SCREEN. (By R.W.0.) The word X-ray conveys to most the meaning of some power of science which man has fashioned to serve his ends, but like other unknown forces holds a quality which makes the layman somewhat nervous and ill at ease when he comes into contact with it. When I set out to inspect the X-ray department at the Wanganui Public Hospital I knew perfectly well that I was going to write of something about which I knew little, if anything at all, consequently I had qualms as I timidly knocked on the portal of the laboratory that contained apparatus both technical and impressive to the lay mind. I was ushered into a room containing a heterogenous collection of electric cables, weird-shaped machines, gleaming bowls, numerous switches and brass rails in an atmosphere of ozone and hospital disinfectant. In the best journalese it would be described as a “scene of orderliness and efficiency." I was sharply recalled from my mental meanderings by a terse sentence from the radiologist; “Don't go too close to that wire: it is carrying 40.00 J volts.” The reader may rest assured that I avoided that insidious piece or instant death and any other wires of similar appearance with the greatest of care throughout the remainder of the period of inspection. “Show Me Something” In response to my somewhat vague request; “Show me something,” the operator touched buttons, moved switches and closed shutters that reduced the well-lit laboratory to a darkness that was Stygian in its intensity. I was informed that I was to witness a fluorescent screen in operation, and while we waited the requisite live minutes to enable eyes to become accustomed to the gloom 1 turned this over in my mind, wondering all the while what a fluorescent screen might be. A ruby-coloured bulb cast a faint glow and by which I could distinguish the radiologist as he moved among his instruments with an ease born of familiarity. Two nurses stood by in attendance, either by habit or out of curiosity, to note what my reactions would be. A switch clanged in the silence, and simultaneously an electric motor nearby commenced turning, its whine steadily growing in pitch until it reached a crescendo. A small screen commenced to glow and a strong smell of ozone became noticeable. In

response to the depressing of a pedal there was a harsh sound of discharging electricity and the comment from the operator, “She’s all right now.” I was taken by the arm and invitea to place a hand between the screen and the complicated machine behind it. With some trepidation I complied, and was confronted with the startling apparition of a skeleton hand and arm, with the realisation that it was my own. Wristlet watch and sleeve buttons stood out in sharp relief against shadown tissues and darker bone. Somewhat shaken by this experience I withdrew my arm and awaited further developments. Saw Heart Beating. It was then suggested that I stand behind the screen. To the proposal I complied with no great enthusiasm, knowing that at last someone was going to see through me. In front of me the nurses watched closely while the radiologist explained the location of my various components. "There are his lungs, those are his ribs, that is the top of the pelvic bones; that dark mass pulsating is his heart.” I experienced a somewhat guilty feeling as the buttons of my coat were pointed out, together with fountain pen, pencil, and a stray coin resting in a top pocket. I could feel nothing. I moved from behind the instrument and a nurse took my place. 1 was confronted by the top half of a skeleton. A dark shape on the right side of the screen I recognised as a pair of scissors in the top pocket of her uniform, and buttons were apparent at regular intervals. Behind these were stretched an infinity of ribs, vague shapes of tissues and that pulsing member near the middle of the body which was the heart. The screen was raised with the result that a skull confronted me. When the nurse opened and shut her mouth it proved too much, and I felt I wanted to sit down. “This way, old chap!"—the voice of the radiologist seemed to come from a great distance. As I walked from that chamber reminiscent of a Frankenstein setting I fancied I heard those nurses laugh. In the fresh air and bright sunlight I was thankful for health and well-being, at the same time conscious of how the hand of science has come to the aid of the sick and the diseased.