A manual of practical medical electricity - the Röntgen rays and Finsen light (1902) (14783707975)

Identifier: manualofpractica00turn (find matches)
Title: A manual of practical medical electricity : the Röntgen rays and Finsen light
Year: 1902 (1900s)
Authors: Turner, Dawson
Subjects: X-Rays Electrophysiology Electrosurgery Electric Stimulation Therapy Electrotherapeutics X-rays Electrophysiology Electrosurgery
Publisher: New York : William Wood & Company
Contributing Library: Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine
Digitizing Sponsor: Open Knowledge Commons and Harvard Medical School



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trate aluminium, and that they cannottherefore be true X rays. Glow-worms, whether glowingor not, give off a radiation resembling the X radiation ;the authors experiments with glow-worms were communi-cated to the B. A., September, 1896. To obtain the Rontgen radiation, we therefore requirea means of producing the electrical discharges and a propervacuum tube. The electrical discharges may be obtained from a Teslaapparatus, from an induction coil, or from a static elec-trical machine, e.g., a Wimshurst machine (vide p. 13). The Tesla apparatus was more largely used for thispurpose at first than it is now. With the present form offocus vacuum tube, it is not of the service that it was withthe older form of tube ; it would in the latter case oftencause a brisk radiation of X rays when an ordinary indue- RoNTGEN X Rays 319 tion coil was insufficient. It is, however, more troublesomeand difficult to work than a simple induction coil, andtubes are more likely to be punctured by its use. The
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reader may consult Chapter X., Part I., for a descriptionof the Tesla apparatus. Undoubtedly the best and simplest method of obtainingthe electrical discharges is to make use of a good inductioncoil (vide Chapter TX., Part I.). This should be of largesize ; nothing less than a 4-inch spark coil is of much use, 320 A Manual of Practical Medical Electricity and a 6 or 10 inch spark coil is better still. For infirm-aries, or where much work is to be done, a 12 to 18 inchspark coil is best. A great deal depends upon the quality of the coil andthe construction of the contact-breaker ; these should beof the best workmanship, and the platinum contact shouldbe large and thick. Gaiffe, Rue St. Andre des Arts, Paris,supplies an arrangement whereby the platinum contact iscontinually rotated, so as to avoid a too long-continuedaction at one point. Sometimes a mercury - dippingcontact-breaker is supplied, in addition to the ordinaryform. This gives somewhat slower interruptions andmore powerful di