Show Ir e ly DiseoVeedfaets and Recent IlulilUJiullIuJLllD if A r1 Al AfT Vfaid fcv l < > Ii SCIENCE AND INVENTION I The XHay In Dentistry ft The most remarkable application of the Xray was recently made In a casein c case-in which a childs mouth was made to ti do duty as a photographic camera It i was partof an operation in dental surgery sur-gery The first or deciduous teeth are t generally absorbed before a child is 12 V years old and new tenth supply their v places Occasionally some of the first teeth remain in place much longer and C the second set Is late in appearing In f such cases the new teeth seldom grow Sc straight and trouble frequently results f re-sults before their appearance is detected de-tected A progressive dentist in New York state had a case irj which he suspected a delayed second tooth but no external examination could either prove or disprove r dis-prove the theory He finally decided on recourse to the Xray A mold of the f1 upper part of the mouth was made in was and allowed to harden On it was chiseled a Hat surface directly back off of-f the < < portion of the jaw to be photographed photo-graphed and just large enough for a photographic film less than an inch square The film is simply a rtrlp of thin celluloid coated with an emulsion which is sensitive to light In a darkroom dark-room the film was cut to such a shape that it would lie evenly on the plain surface chiseled in the wax mold It was then carefully protected by a double wrapping of black paper so tcd ri f tlit 01r that it would not be acted upon by ii common light Thii film together with s the wax mold was placed in the mouth of the patient and the head held perk per-k fectly still for several minutes while a heavy current excited the Xray tube placed in front of the facie Although the photographic film would be absolutely abso-lutely unaffected by ordinary light in r ° its carefully prepared envelope the Xray readily penetrated this envelope and cast on the film a shadow of alls all-s the parts intervening between < < the tube and film On developing the film In a dark room two small first teeth were F clearly shown in the jaw but their to roots were partially absorbed Behind t them and too far up to be shown by an exterior examination a large second r j tooth projected obliquely downward Supplied with the negative thus obtained s ob-tained by means of the Xray the dentist den-tist now has a clear Idea of the condition i con-dition he has to deal with and it rests f ± with his skill to adjust the difficulties A Curious Organ An organ which the leading organist of New York could not play is now t being used professors of Cornell college r col-lege This organ is not as might be supposed out of tune It is because It is in perfect tune that it differs sot so-t radically from an ordinary organ The t ordinary organ such as is used in churches and drawing rooms is not in t tune even after the maker has just declared it to be in perfect condition G The Cornell organ was invented by k Von Holmholts and it contains a purely pure-ly mathematical scale It is made for the composition of chords such as are t not to be obtained on an ordinary instrument in-strument and is used to study the vibration vi-bration of notes and of what tone an organ note is made Every tone in music mu-sic is to be found on this organ For Instance what are known as sharps and flats on the piano are not really sharps and flats C sharp and D flat are struck on the same black key but strictly speaking that black key is neither it is a note or tone situated midway between C sharp and D flat If both of the latter were on the piano however the difference between them c is so slight that it would confuse the t player So a compromise is made and the two are blended or rather the toner tone-r midway between them 1s used But in Cornell the organ contains i keys for every note in the scale no matter how fine the graduation With i it students can see just how a note on r the organ is built up Certain notes on the organ are made up of certain x other tones On the ordinary piano you fc would not be able to illustrate what these notes are You would need the r true sharps and fiats in order to compose I com-pose the notes The overtones on the domestic instrument would be quite different dif-ferent The pure fifth which can here be accurately denoted Is very much II curtailed on the piano Used in connection con-nection with this organ are a complete set of resonators ir tuning forks In I order to find out how many resonations are contained in a given rote it is only necessary to strike the note Those forks which rebound in sympathy with I It are sure to be included In th makeup r r make-up of the note The silent ones are not t included in it I r Glass Skates k The newest feature of interest in the t New York ice rinks is the use of glass skates It is found that skates with glass runners are far better both for speed and ease in gliding for pleasure than are the skates with metal runners t run-ners and several pairs are now being used In one of the metropolitan rinks I The inventor has succeeded in reducing 11 the glass to a hardness that insures an edge which practically never becomes blunt The tempering process remains a secret but it is a fact that severe contact with hard Ice does not fracture the glass To look at these skates one L would not suppose that they were made of anything else than metal for the runners are always colored in prdEr to I disguise the substance Jf which they are made The coloring process is arbitrary ar-bitrary and tints in the wise of ladies < < skates are always made to correspond with the colors of the wearers costume t cos-tume The runners of these glass pS skates are attached directly to an es j I peciallymade shoe which laces from the heel up the back The combination I I not only gives a skate which is perfectly per-fectly easy in motion t the high I I shoe stiffens the ankle to an extent which greatly aids In the enjoyment and adds to the safety of the exercise I I 1 TO Coal Explosions I A profess has been invented by James Tonge of the Manchester Geological so j i i j ciety which may rid the mining of coat I of one of its greatest dangers By I I means of it coal can now be taken from i the mines without blasting The process proc-ess is hydraulic and so simple in operation oper-ation that the great wonder is that it has not been thought of before Instead In-stead of being violently disrupted as Y with powder huge pieces of coal are wedged away from the parent body by means of a simple little pump worked I by hand It has been tried in one of r the English coal mines and the result was so satisfactory that preparations are being made to Install the mine I < with the apparatus and discard explosives explo-sives altogether The whole apparatus weighs 50 pounds and consists of a cartridge or cylinder of steel IS inches long and three inches in diameter a hand pvmp a pressure gauge and alight a-light adjustable stand Sir Tonges own description of how it is used Is graphic enough He says I The coal is holed near the floor to the usual depth and a hole Is drilled near the roof to about the same depth as though making ready for the usual blasting When this has been done the cartridge Is put In the top hole and frJ pushed to the back The pump is coupled cou-pled to the cartridge the suction pipe is placed In a small bottle of water and the work begins In a few seconds the cartridge is charged with water Then I the pressure comes on and begins to 12c3fnrO 1 1 show on the gauge Half a tona ton a ton and a half two tons per square inch During till time a cracking I sound behind the cartridge has been telling that the pressure shown on the r gauge has had the effect of shearing off j J the coal at the back the sprigs or holding hold-ing props being kept In place in front The gradual way in which the work is lone without shock or jar of any kind f prevents any damage to the roof of the sih rili ti ni 1 t shaft in striking contrast to the action h of explosives of an kind The whole w t t f Y b I operation of loosening tons of coal requires I re-quires less than 12 minutes from the I time of placing the cartridge in the hole to the breaking down of the lump j Inasmuch as the holes can be placed i further apart than when blasting is j done a much larger quantity of coal I can be taken off at a time and thus the I productiveness of the mine can be increased in-creased and the advantage of being 1 able to do without explosives cannot be I overestimated when the saving of life is taken into consideration I c HOW WE THINK i Scientific Light On the Processes of j I I the Brain At last scientists seem to be on the point of finding out what happens in the brain when a person thinks It has long been known that the brain is the thinking organ but just how the making of thought comes about has been a puzzle The celebrated Cabanis solved the matter offhand by saying that the brain secrets thought as the liver secrets bile This terse saying passed Into common use but soon came to be recognized as a clever speech rather than an explanation of them the-m ste Now however the most recent re-cent researches of the microscopists I are making it appear thataf all the saying is not so far wrong but that 1 correctly Interpreted it in some measure meas-ure expresses the facts Of course thought being intangible is not properly II prop-erly to be compared with bile or any other physical substance but It appears 1 i ap-pears that the processes in the brain i I j I which produce thought and without j j which thinking Is Impossible are strictly I j strict-ly comparable those changes in the I j liver and other organs which produce the tangible secretions I I ACTION OF THE BRAIN CELLS A committee of British physicians I acting jointly has for some years been I i giving particular attention to this topic land their researches though not yet altogether complete already show some very interesting results which taken I together with those of investigators on I I the continent let us see a long way I into the intricacies of the brain It is i shown unequivocally for example that j I a brain cell which is the really important I Im-portant part of the brain actually i loses part of its substance during action i ac-tion The brain cells of persons and of i I animals that have died during a period I j I of great exhaustion from overexertion j are found to be greatly changed from j I the condition of the normal cell during I I times of health and vigor The cell of the exhausted brain instead of being plump and full of nervous matter is found to be hollowed out or vacuolated I vacuo-lated a cavity within its substance having formed and filled vjth water i This means that a part of the cell substance I sub-stance has been actually consumed I during the time of brain activity precisely I pre-cisely as coal is consumed when one i gets heat from a furnace I It is found further that if an animal I whose brain cells are thus exhausted is permitted to rest and to sleep its cells I rapidly recuperate new material being supplied from the blood until the vac r N smd 1 tn I uolation has disappeared and the cell is practically as good as new again This explains why sleep is necessary I to our exIstence During waking hours our brains are literally worn away and IIi I i sleep is the state during which the repair i Ii eotf g eo gm I pair shops of the brain make good the I damage of the waking hours Thus j the brain of a person who suffers from insomnia is in the condition of a loco j j motive which is run night and day I without going to the repair shops disaster I dis-aster must ultimately result It is not sleep alone however that rests the brain cell though sleep is absolutely I ab-solutely essential to recuperation of the brain as a whole But not all parts of the brain are involved in any one kind I i lof mental effort The blood supply of I the brain is so arranged that by expansion expan-sion or contraction of different arteries I parts of the brain may be Hushed with blood and other parts dammed off so to speak somewhat as the various cur I is ea rents of an irrigated I field are regulated l by the gardener And as rapid flow of I blood is essential to great mental activity ac-tivity this means that one part of the j I brain may be very actively at work j while another part is resting and re fuperating Thus it is that a person j suffering from brain fatigue may leave I his deal and go out into the fields with n golfstlck or on the highways with a bicycle and by diverting his mind give lthe j overworked cells a chance to rest Iand I recuperate But it must not be I j I overlooked < < that such exercise involves I other brain calls which In turn become exhausted and that in the end for the I recuperation of the brain as a whole sleep is absolutely essential No recreation I recre-ation no medicine no stimulant will take its place The man who does not give himself sufficient hours of sleep or who is unable to sleep when he makes the effort is literally burning away his brain substance and can no more keep on indefinitely in this way than a locomotive loco-motive can run on indefinitely without getting fresh supplies of fuel In this new view it appears that each brain cell is a sort of storage battery which can perform a certain amount of work and then must be recharged This likeness to a battery is further emphasized by the fact that the nature of the brain cells work consists like that of any other battery of the sending send-ing out of charges of energy along connecting con-necting wires or at least along fibres that may be likened to wires Bran cells when examined under the microscope micro-scope are found not to be simple globular globu-lar bodies like many other kinds of cells On the contrary they are irregular irreg-ular in shape and when properly stained stain-ed little wirelike fibres can be seen jutting out from them in various directions direc-tions It Is along these fibres that messages mes-sages are sent out much as messengers messen-gers go and come from a telephone central office JUST LIKE A TELEPHONE This likening of the brain to a telephone tele-phone central office is a comparison that may be carried to a remarkable length Indeed no other comparison serves so well to give one a correct notion no-tion of the method of brain action But until recently there was one phase of the matter that could not he explained How is it that the various messages that are surging through the brain are directed to proper channels among these multitudinous wires When you I call the central office give up you a I certain number and the hello girl connects your particular wire with that number When you are through talking the girl breaks the circuit and you can no longer communicate along that line But is there anything similar to this making and breaking of circuits possible possi-ble In the brain Astonishing as it may seem the answer is yes There Is precisely pre-cisely such a series of changes In the circuits of thcbraln cells as is effected by the hello girl with the telephone wires 4 The manner of IMs this Recent studies stud-ies of the brain cell particularly those made by the Spanish physiologist d I Ramon Cajal have shown that many I cf the wires which lead out from a cell j do not go on uninterruptcdy to a ter i cell as i I mination in some other distant they were formerly supposed to do but ir stead terminate In blind ends Thais j Tha-is to say they point out toward other cells but do not reach them Such a I fiber clearly cannot convey any mes i srge because like a teephone wire tim 1 i his been cut it does not lead anywhere Hut under certain conditions of stimulation I stimu-lation a very extraordinary thing happens hap-pens The blind fiber under stimulus stimu-lus from its central cell lengthens out until it touches a fiber of a neighboring cell and presto with such a contact a circuit is completed and a message Hashes between the cells Manifestly such coming together of the blind fibers is precisely comparable to the i hello gins connecting of your telephone i tele-phone with another And as in the case i of the telephones so in the case of the cells when the communication is com I nleted the connection is broken the I libers retract and cease to touch one another and no further message can be Iccat j WHY WE GET PUZZLED 1 Sometimes the telephone girl does not understand your order or reports that the number you wish is engaged and i you cannot send your message Similarly Simi-larly in the brain it sometimes seems as if certain circuits one wishes to use are engaged in other channels for how often does one puzzle his brains to recall a fact or a name which he feels that he knows perfectly but which will not come at command And then how perhaps hours afterward the elusive name will flash before him as if the telephone girl of his brain cell had at last succeeded in getting the right connection con-nection When one reflects that each of these wonderful brain cells is microscopic micro-scopic in size requiring indeed a high power of the microscope to make it visible vis-ible and that there are billions of them iin cubic inch of brain substance one Is led to wonder that such mistakes of connection or failures to connect do not occur oftener As it is the telephone tele-phone office of the brain is easily the most wonderful structure of which we have any knowledge The most delicate piece of mechanism ever devised by human hu-man hands is a crude thing Indeed compared com-pared with the marvelous brain cell In time of war it often happens that an invading army will cut the telegraph tele-graph wires and destroy instruments and batteries ot the central offices so that telegraphic and telephonic communication com-munication becomes impossible A precisely pre-cisely similar destruction of brain fibers and brain cells occurs under cer i d1t noeJ hn1 f tain conditions of disease The familiar disease paresis for example consists C vij jfllKA IMv reStr5 1 IIII CELLS ill IITW TrnW i1ililli Gwi tt n I essentially of just such a destruction of the brain structures as this Day by day in the paretics brain disease is making inroads upon the delicate mechanism me-chanism of the cells and correspondingly correspond-ingly the ideas that could alone result from the activities of these cells are annulled forever When such destruction destruc-tion has gone far involving many sets of cells it Is as impossible that the paretics mind should act normally as that a telephone system should operate with lines cut and batteries destroyed = IS TELEPHONE STORIES Some Peculiar Things Done By the Long Distance Wires Considering the fact that millions of miles of wire and half the states of the country are included In our telephones telephone-s stem and that we have something like 250000 subscribers it isnt strange that some peculiar things happen over the longdistance lines said the telephone tele-phone man as he leaned back in his chair after connecting Omaha and New I York just to show how easy it is to talk across 1600 miles I The other day the papers printed a story of how a bank president in Minneapolis I I neapolis presided over a meeting of directors di-rectors in Lowell Mass he went on I That was correct enough but it wasnt such an unusual thing as one might infer in-fer from reading the accounts of It It has become quite the regular thing for railroad and bank directors who cant get to the regular place of meeting to be connected with the meeting place by wire by the use of a large transmitter I he Is able to hear everything that goes on and to take part in the proceedings almost as well as though he were on I the spot I know too that the distance phone has been used to close some of i the largest commercial transactions that have taken place In this country during the past five years The use of the longrange telephone for great business affairs seems natural enough for the high charges are trivial when compared with the interests Involved = In-volved But anybody who hasnt a chance to learn from being In the business busi-ness would be astonished at some of the messages that go over the wires and for which the senders pay good round sums in the way of tolls I suppose sup-pose that the reason of this is that the telephone is still comparatively new to most people they look upon It with something of wonder and they like to experiment with it to see If it will do all that Is claimed for it Here for Instance Is a case that we had last night and which is one of a kind that vo get six days In every week A Cincinnati man had come onto on-to New York on business He had evidently evi-dently just left his train when he came to the phone and called up his Ohio house There evidently wasnt any particular par-ticular reason for it except his desire I to talk with his family One after another an-other the mother and five children came to the phone and oxehnngd a few sentences sen-tences with the head of the house In such long distance work where the charges are high it is customary for the operator to notify the user of the wire at the end of each five minutes of the time < so that there wont be any confusion con-fusion about the cost at the end In this case the conversation kept dragging drag-ging out and the night manager who had the wire notified the man every five minutes each time being met with the reply Ill take five minutes more The Cincinnati man was determined that everyone of his family should hear his voice ahd he didnt rare how much It cost Last of all the baby was brought to the transmitter a youngster who could just lisp Hello Papa and then the man settled his bill for Slot without a murmur doubtless feeling well repaid In having listened to his babys coo across that distance Of course thats an extreme case In the size of the charge but In other respects re-spects it isnt an unusual thing especially es-pecially with westerners It seems tome > to-me that about one < < in every 10 men whether they come from Chicago or some little croFs road town rush off to the telephonathe first thing when they strike New York and call up the wife or sweetheart whom they have left behind be-hind at home To the outsider their little home gossip or sweet nothings dont seem to ampunt to much but 11 dkI j < > a J t 4 i r ii I dare say it makes life pleasanter for those who are interested so nobody else I I can object to it TELEPHONED TO HIS DOG I remember a case more peculiar than that of the Cincinnati man that happened while I was manager in the Chicago exchange A man In the city had a fox terrier of which he was very I j proud while the dog was as completely j devoted to him He had to go to someplace f some-place in Michigan on business which Kept him away for several days As i soon as he had gone the dog began to suffer from a severe attack of loneliness loneli-ness He wouldnt eat find lay about moping until the mans wile was afraid the terrier would die before his masters return One night the man went into the station of the town where he was stopping and said that PttJnIfIsaJ1o he wanted to talk to his dog So connection con-nection was made with his souse and j thereceiver was placed In the terriers I i ear Instantly he recognized his masters I i I mas-ters voice and began to frolic about I I and bark at a great rate Two or three times after that the Chicago man repented i i re-pented the performance and he dldpt mind the 10 or 5I2 that it cost him In I j the least i I I WON BY TELEPHONE j j j There have been various fiction stories written which Involved proposals pro-posals by telephone but I know of at least one instance in which such a thing actually occurred The young man was so pleased that when It was over he told me all about It He had been courting a girl in an Ohio town the name of whom it isnt necessary ito i-to give here had quarreled with her for some foolish reason and had come east intending to sail for Europe He j I had been thinking the matter over on 1 i the way decided that he had been a fool and when he heard that another I j fellow was after the girl made up his mind to take heroic measures So he I I sent a message to the girl asking her to come to the telephone but not giving giv-ing his name When he came to the office to keep the appointment he was I I the most nervous fellow I ever saw 1 and Ill bet that no man was ever more j agitated In the actual presence of his j charmer But he managed to get i through the business somehow and the result was so satisfactory that the j I first thing he wanted to know when he i came out of the booth was how soon he could get a train back to the west We have it jtoou many tte r otcrs to fill and they are becoming more numerous as the telephone comes into more general use Last fall an opera singer had negotiations under way with some New York managers They didnt want to engage her however without first hearing her voice She was sing ing in Chicago at the time and couldnt leave The difficulty was adjusted by telephone The managers came to my office the woman sang before a big transmitter in Chicago and her tones were heard with perfect clearness hereIn here-In New Ycrk The test was so satisfactory satis-factory that she was engaged on the spot the newspapers printed accounts of I our reproduction of Niatraras roar at the electrical exposition and of the I sounds of the great soundmoney parade pa-rade In Chicago last year and as I say I I such orders are becoming more numer ious i-ous One class of men with whom the Ilongdistance telephone Is in high favor I are the politicians Perhaps it is because be-cause they prefer to trust to spoken 1 words rather than written ones even i where there Is not a consideration perhaps per-haps It Is because of the facilities which 1 i the telephone gives for keeping In constant con-stant touch with events that are occurring i i I oc-curring at distant places but certain it is that the politicians are among our most liberal patrons During the last I presidential campaign Major McKinley I I kept constantly In touch with the republican I bIC I publican headquarters both in New York and Chicago by means of the telephone tele-phone and he received the first official j i notice of his election in that way I When important bills are under consideration consid-eration in Albany the telephone wires connecting that city with certain officeS In New York are kept hot most of the time The big exchanges keep close watch of the tariff legislation and financial finan-cial discussions In congress In the same way President McKinley by the way Is the first chief magistrate to make regular use ofl the telephone In the White House for communicating with his cabinet officers and congressional advisers Wh n he wants to speak to j them instead of sending for them as i his predecessors did he steps to the j phone with a Hello Gary or Is that I you Gage and thereby saves a lot of i time i A TELEPHONIC SYMPOSIUM I Some little time ago some citizens j of Montclair N J anxious for some I new form of entertainment hit upon I what they called a telephonic sympo i i i slum They arranged for special quick connections and then listened to short I I speeches songs and jokes from a dozen 1 different parts of the country There was a regular time schedule and the i I range of the entertainment extended all i 1 the way from Cuyahoga Falls 0 to i Boston It was voted a great success I and shows the possibilities In one of i the as yet undeveloped fields of telephone tele-phone use I |