201. Savary’s Experiment. Needle Located by Sciascope and Removed. The Lancet, Mar. 28, ’96.—Dr. Savary located a needle by a sciascope although efforts by all other methods had failed. A line was drawn between two points intersecting the needle at right angles. About half an inch below the surface of the skin of the wrist the blade of the scalpel impinged upon the needle, which was removed without difficulty.
202. Renton & Somerville’s Experiment. Diagnosis. The Lancet, Lon., Apr. 4, ’96.—A writer for the Lancet reported that Drs. Renton and Somerville made a diagnosis with the assistance of the screen. In one, the suspected case of unreduced dislocation of the phalanx, they saw that the parts were in the proper position. He showed to medical men an old fracture of the forearm where the fragments of the bones were distinct as to the shadows.
From Sciagraph of “Colles’ Fracture” in the Right Wrist, by a Fall on the Sidewalk. [§ 207].
By William J. Morton, M.D.
203. Miller’s Experiments. Location of Bullets. Elect. World, Mar. 21, ’96.—Bullets were clearly located in the hands of two different men by Prof. Dayton C. Miller, of the Case School of Applied Science. In one, the bullet had been lodged for 14 years and had always been thought to lie between the bones of the forearm, but two sciagraphs from different directions located the ball at the base of the little finger. By means of five sciagraphs from different directions, the ball in the other hand was located at the base of the thumb.
204. Injuries by Accident and Miscellaneous Cases. The Integral, Cleveland, Ohio, ’96.—Many fingers and hands were examined by Prof. Miller that had been injured by planing machines, cog-wheels, base balls, pistols, etc., and in each case the nature of the injuries was determined. Several cases of fractured arms were studied—some through splints and bandages. Some sciagraphs indicated that the ends of the broken bones had not been placed in apposition. Subsequently, an operation was performed to remedy the setting. In one case, he sciagraphed the arm from which a piece of the ulna had been removed five years previously. The necrosis had increased. Two sciagraphs at right angles to each other clearly exhibited the nature of the disease. The permanent set of the toes by wearing pointed shoes was clearly exhibited (p. [30].) The figure on page [147] is the side view of a foot in a laced shoe. The outlines of the bones can be traced, also the eyelets and the pegs in the heel, while the uppers scarcely appear. In Fig. [1] (introduction) is shown a head, only the skull being clearly reproduced. In the negative, the teeth appear and places whence the teeth have been extracted, also the jaw bones, nasal cavities and the ragged junction of the bones and cartilage. The varying thickness is represented in the cut, at the temples and ears. Fig. [2] (introduction) shows that a broken bone was badly set, the ends overlapping each other instead of meeting end to end. A sciagraph of an elbow is shown on p. [161]. The flesh is scarcely visible. Fig. [3] (introduction) is a picture which reproduced the mere indication of the spine and ribs. In the original negative the collar bones, pelvis, clavicles, buckle of clothing and location of the heart and stomach were faintly outlined. Fig. [4] (introduction) is a representation of the knee of a boy 15 years old, in knickerbockers, showing the buttons clearly, and dimly a 32 caliber bullet which is imbedded in the end of the femur.
204a. Necrosis. Mortification of the ulna is represented on p. [142]. Necrosis of the bone corresponds to gangrene of the soft parts; life is extinct.
205. Morton’s Experiment. Diagnosis. Elect. Eng., N.Y., June 17, ’96. Lect. before Odontological So., N.Y., Apr. 24, ’96; repeated in Dental Cosmos, June, ’96.—Dr. William J. Morton, of New York, made several important examinations of the human system by the use of X-rays.
In regard to application in dentistry, he stated:—“Each errant fang is distinctly placed, however deeply imbedded within its alveolar socket; teeth before their eruption stand forth in plain view; an unsuspected exostosis is revealed; a pocket of necrosis, of suppuration, or of tuberculosis is revealed in its exact outlines; the extent and area and location of metallic fillings are sharply delineated, whether above or below the alveolar line. Most interesting is the fact that the pulp-chamber is beautifully outlined, and that erosions and enlargements may be readily detected.”
206. The author saw one of Dr. Morton’s original photographed sciagraphs of the thorax, 15 inches by 11 inches, not at all creditably reproduced at page [161]. In the original, to the surgeon’s eye: “The acromion and coracoid processes of the shoulder blade are clearly shown in their relations to the head of the humerus, or arm bone, and also the end of the clavicle, or collar bone, is shown in its relations to the shoulder joint. We have, in short, an inner inspection in a living person of this rather complicated joint, the shoulder, and there can be no doubt that in defined pictures of this nature even very slight deformities and diseases would be detected. It is noticeable that the front portions of the ribs are not shown, only the posterior portions lying nearest to the sensitized plate appear; also the breastbone was sufficiently dense to almost entirely obstruct the X-rays. A collar button at the back of the neck is taken through the backbone. In some of my negatives the dark outline of the heart and liver is shown as well as the outlines of tumors in the brain; but this is evidently for purposes of demonstrating the location of organs, an over-exposure, and does not, therefore, indicate the outlines of the heart.”