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McCLURE'S MAGAZINE

VOL. VI, NO. 5, APRIL, 1896

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS.
THE NEW MARVEL IN PHOTOGRAPHY. By H.J.W. Dam.
THE ROeNTGEN RAYS IN AMERICA. By Cleveland Moffett.
THE HOUSEHOLDERS. By "Q."
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. By Ida M. Tarbell.
Lincoln in the Campaign of 1840.
Lincoln's Engagement to Miss Todd.
The Lincoln and Shields Duel.
Marriage of Lincoln and Miss Todd.
"PHROSO." By Anthony Hope.
Chapter I. A Long Thing Ending in Poulos.
Chapter II. A Conservative Country.
Chapter III. The Fever of Neopalia.
A CENTURY OF PAINTING. By Will H. Low.
"SOLDIER AN' SAILOR TOO." By Rudyard Kipling.
RACHEL. By Mrs. E.V. Wilson.
CHAPTERS FROM A LIFE. By Elizabeth Stuart Phelps.
EDITORIAL NOTES.
Twenty Thousand Dollars for Short Stories.
The McClure's "Early Life of Lincoln."
The McClure's New "Life of Grant."
New Pictures of Lincoln.
The Abraham Lincoln School of Science and Practical Arts.
The House in which Lincoln's Parents Were Married--a Correction.

ILLUSTRATIONS

PICTURES SHOWING THE DIFFERENCES IN PENETRABILITY TO THE ROeNTGEN RAYS.
DR. WILLIAM KONRAD ROeNTGEN, DISCOVERER OF THE X RAYS.
PICTURE OF AN ALUMINIUM CIGAR-CASE, SHOWING CIGARS WITHIN.
PHOTOGRAPH OF A LADY'S HAND SHOWING THE BONES, AND A RING ON THE
THIRD FINGER.
THE PHYSICAL INSTITUTE, UNIVERSITY OF WUeRZBURG.
SKELETON OF A FROG, PHOTOGRAPHED THROUGH THE FLESH.
RAZOR-BLADE PHOTOGRAPHED THROUGH A LEATHER CASE AND THE RAZOR-HANDLE.
SKELETON OF A FISH PHOTOGRAPHED THROUGH THE FLESH.
A HUMAN FOOT PHOTOGRAPHED THROUGH THE SOLE OF A SHOE.
PHOTOGRAPHING A FOOT IN ITS SHOE BY THE ROeNTGEN PROCESS.
BONES OF A HUMAN FOOT PHOTOGRAPHED THROUGH THE FLESH.
CORK-SCREW, KEY, PENCIL WITH METALLIC PROTECTOR, AND PIECE OF COIN.
COINS PHOTOGRAPHED INSIDE A PURSE.
DR. WILLIAM J. MORTON PHOTOGRAPHING HIS OWN HAND UNDER ROeNTGEN
A GROUP OF FAMILIAR ARTICLES UNDER THE ROeNTGEN RAYS.
THOMAS A. EDISON EXPERIMENTING WITH THE ROeNTGEN RAYS.
"I ... TRIED A STEP TOWARD THE STAIRS, WITH EYES ALERT ..."
"HE STOOD SIDEWAYS, ... AND LOOKED AT ME OVER HIS LEFT SHOULDER."
"FACE TO FACE WITH THE REAL HOUSEHOLDER."
OLD STATE-HOUSE AT SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.
A HARRISON BADGE OF 1840.
A HARRISON BUTTON OF 1840.
LINCOLN IN 1860.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN 1861.
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, NINTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
JOSHUA F. SPEED AND WIFE.
MARY TODD LINCOLN.
LINCOLN IN 1858.
ROBERT S. TODD.
MISS JULIA JAYNE, ONE OF MISS TODD'S BRIDESMAIDS.
GENERAL JAMES SHIELDS.
MRS. NINIAN W. EDWARDS.
COURT-HOUSE AT TREMONT WHERE LINCOLN RECEIVED WARNING OF SHIELDS'S
CHALLENGE.
RESIDENCE OF NINIAN W. EDWARDS, SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.
LINCOLN'S MARRIAGE LICENSE AND MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE.
REV. CHARLES DRESSER.
THE GLOBE HOTEL, SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.
A BROOK IN THE DEPARTMENT OF VAR, FRANCE.
JEAN BAPTISTE CAMILLE COROT.
A BY-PATH.
EARLY MORNING.
DIANA'S BATH.
A SHALLOW RIVER.
THE EDGE OF THE FOREST (FONTAINEBLEAU).
ON THE RIVER OISE.
THE STORMY SEA.
A SUNLIT GLADE.
A SHEPHERD AND HIS FLOCK.
"THE MAN WITH THE LEATHERN BELT."
THE STONE-BREAKERS.
THE GOOD SAMARITAN.
SERVANT AT THE FOUNTAIN.
AN UNHAPPY FAMILY.

[Illustration: PICTURES TAKEN BY PROFESSOR ARTHUR W. WRIGHT OF YALE
COLLEGE, SHOWING THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SUBSTANCES IN PENETRABILITY
TO THE ROeNTGEN RAYS.

1 and 3. Flint glass prism (very opaque).

2. Quartz prism, showing transmission of the rays through the thin
edges.

4. Prism of heavy glass, more opaque than flint glass.

5. One-cent coin, copper.

6. Five-cent coin, nickel.

7. White-crown glass, 11/2 millimetres thick.

8. Blue crown glass, 2 millimetres thick.

9. Yellow crown glass, 11/2 millimetres thick.

10. Crown glass, 1 millimetre thick, covered with a very thin layer of
gold.

11. Red crown glass, 2 millimetres thick.

12. Block of Iceland spar (very transparent to ordinary light, but
very opaque to Roentgen rays).

13. A bit of tinfoil.

14. Aluminium medal, showing faint traces of the design and lettering
on both sides, as if it were translucent.

15. Metallic mirror, shows no effect of regular reflection.

16. Bit of sheet-lead, 1 millimetre thick.

17. Quarter-of-a-dollar coin, silver.

18. Piece of thin ebonite, such as is used for photographic
plate-holder.]

[Illustration: DR. WILLIAM KONRAD ROeNTGEN, DISCOVERER OF THE X RAYS.

From a photograph by Hanfstaenge, Frankfort-on-the-Main.]

THE NEW MARVEL IN PHOTOGRAPHY.

A VISIT TO PROFESSOR ROeNTGEN AT HIS LABORATORY IN WUeRZBURG.--HIS OWN
ACCOUNT OF HIS GREAT DISCOVERY.--INTERESTING EXPERIMENTS WITH THE
CATHODE RAYS.--PRACTICAL USES OF THE NEW PHOTOGRAPHY.

BY H.J.W. DAM.

In all the history of scientific discovery there has never been,
perhaps, so general, rapid, and dramatic an effect wrought on the
scientific centres of Europe as has followed, in the past four weeks,
upon an announcement made to the Wuerzburg Physico-Medical Society, at
their December meeting, by Professor William Konrad Roentgen, professor
of physics at the Royal University of Wuerzburg. The first news which
reached London was by telegraph from Vienna to the effect that a
Professor Roentgen, until then the possessor of only a local fame
in the town mentioned, had discovered a new kind of light, which
penetrated and photographed through everything. This news was received
with a mild interest, some amusement, and much incredulity; and a week
passed. Then, by mail and telegraph, came daily clear indications
of the stir which the discovery was making in all the great line of
universities between Vienna and Berlin. Then Roentgen's own report
arrived, so cool, so business-like, and so truly scientific in
character, that it left no doubt either of the truth or of the great
importance of the preceding reports. To-day, four weeks after the
announcement, Roentgen's name is apparently in every scientific
publication issued this week in Europe; and accounts of his
experiments, of the experiments of others following his method, and
of theories as to the strange new force which he has been the first
to observe, fill pages of every scientific journal that comes to
hand. And before the necessary time elapses for this article to
attain publication in America, it is in all ways probable that the
laboratories and lecture-rooms of the United States will also be
giving full evidence of this contagious arousal of interest over a
discovery so strange that its importance cannot yet be measured,
its utility be even prophesied, or its ultimate effect upon
long-established scientific beliefs be even vaguely foretold.

[Illustration: PICTURE OF AN ALUMINIUM CIGAR-CASE, SHOWING CIGARS
WITHIN.

From a photograph by A.A.C. Swinton, Victoria Street, London.
Exposure, ten minutes.]

[Illustration: PHOTOGRAPH OF A LADY'S HAND SHOWING THE BONES, AND A
RING ON THE THIRD FINGER, WITH FAINT OUTLINES OF THE FLESH.

From a photograph taken by Mr. P. Spies, director of the "Urania,"
Berlin.]

[Illustration: THE PHYSICAL INSTITUTE, UNIVERSITY OF
WUeRZBURG, WHERE PROFESSOR ROeNTGEN HAS HIS RESIDENCE, DELIVERS HIS
LECTURES, AND CONDUCTS HIS EXPERIMENTS.

From a photograph by G. Glock, Wuerzburg.]

The Roentgen rays are certain invisible rays resembling, in many
respects, rays of light, which are set free when a high pressure
electric current is discharged through a vacuum tube. A vacuum tube
is a glass tube from which all the air, down to one-millionth of an
atmosphere, has been exhausted after the insertion of a platinum
wire in either end of the tube for connection with the two poles of
a battery or induction coil. When the discharge is sent through
the tube, there proceeds from the anode--that is, the wire which is
connected with the positive pole of the battery--certain bands of
light, varying in color with the color of the glass. But these are
insignificant in comparison with the brilliant glow which shoots
from the cathode, or negative wire. This glow excites brilliant
phosphorescence in glass and many substances, and these "cathode
rays," as they are called, were observed and studied by Hertz; and
more deeply by his assistant, Professor Lenard, Lenard having, in
1894, reported that the cathode rays would penetrate thin films of
aluminium, wood, and other substances and produce photographic results
beyond. It was left, however, for Professor Roentgen to discover that
during the discharge another kind of rays are set free, which differ
greatly from those described by Lenard as cathode rays The most marked
difference between the two is the fact that Roentgen rays are not
deflected by a magnet, indicating a very essential difference, while
their range and penetrative power are incomparably greater. In fact,
all those qualities which have lent a sensational character to the
discovery of Roentgen's rays were mainly absent from these of Lenard,
to the end that, although Roentgen has not been working in an entirely
new field, he has by common accord been freely granted all the honors
of a great discovery.

[Illustration: SKELETON OF A FROG, PHOTOGRAPHED
THROUGH THE FLESH. THE SHADINGS INDICATE, IN ADDITION TO THE BONES,
ALSO THE LUNGS AND THE CEREBRAL LOBES.

From a photograph by Professors Imbert and Bertin-Sans; reproduced
by the courtesy of the "Presse Medicale," Paris. In taking this
photograph the experiment was tried of using a diaphragm interposed
between the Crookes tube and the plate; and the superior clearness
obtained is thought to result from this.]

[Illustration: RAZOR-BLADE PHOTOGRAPHED THROUGH A LEATHER CASE AND THE
RAZOR-HANDLE.

From a photograph taken by Dr. W.L. Robb of Trinity College. The
shading in the picture indicates, what was the actual fact, that the
blade, which was hollow ground, was thinner in the middle than near
the edge.]

[Illustration: SKELETON OF A FISH PHOTOGRAPHED THROUGH THE FLESH.

From a photograph by A.A.C. Swinton, Victoria Street, London.
Exposure, four minutes.]

Exactly what kind of a force Professor Roentgen has discovered he does
not know. As will be seen below, he declines to call it a new kind of
light, or a new form of electricity. He has given it the name of the
X rays. Others speak of it as the Roentgen rays. Thus far its results
only, and not its essence, are known. In the terminology of science it
is generally called "a new mode of motion," or, in other words, a new
force. As to whether it is or not actually a force new to science, or
one of the known forces masquerading under strange conditions, weighty
authorities are already arguing. More than one eminent scientist has
already affected to see in it a key to the great mystery of the law
of gravity. All who have expressed themselves in print have admitted,
with more or less frankness, that, in view of Roentgen's discovery,
science must forth-with revise, possibly to a revolutionary degree,
the long accepted theories concerning the phenomena of light and
sound. That the X rays, in their mode of action, combine a strange
resemblance to both sound and light vibrations, and are destined to
materially affect, if they do not greatly alter, our views of both
phenomena, is already certain; and beyond this is the opening into
a new and unknown field of physical knowledge, concerning which
speculation is already eager, and experimental investigation already
in hand, in London, Paris, Berlin, and, perhaps, to a greater or less
extent, in every well-equipped physical laboratory in Europe.

This is the present scientific aspect of the discovery. But, unlike
most epoch-making results from laboratories, this discovery is one
which, to a very unusual degree, is within the grasp of the popular
and non-technical imagination. Among the other kinds of matter
which these rays penetrate with ease is the human flesh. That a new
photography has suddenly arisen which can photograph the bones, and,
before long, the organs of the human body; that a light has been found
which can penetrate, so as to make a photographic record, through
everything from a purse or a pocket to the walls of a room or a house,
is news which cannot fail to startle everybody. That the eye of the
physician or surgeon, long baffled by the skin, and vainly seeking
to penetrate the unfortunate darkness of the human body, is now to be
supplemented by a camera, making all the parts of the human body as
visible, in a way, as the exterior, appears certainly to be a greater
blessing to humanity than even the Listerian antiseptic system of
surgery; and its benefits must inevitably be greater than those
conferred by Lister, great as the latter have been. Already, in
the few weeks since Roentgen's announcement, the results of surgical
operations under the new system are growing voluminous. In Berlin, not
only new bone fractures are being immediately photographed, but joined
fractures, as well, in order to examine the results of recent surgical
work. In Vienna, imbedded bullets are being photographed, instead of
being probed for, and extracted with comparative ease. In London, a
wounded sailor, completely paralyzed, whose injury was a mystery, has
been saved by the photographing of an object imbedded in the spine,
which, upon extraction, proved to be a small knife-blade. Operations
for malformations, hitherto obscure, but now clearly revealed by the
new photography, are already becoming common, and are being reported
from all directions. Professor Czermark of Graz has photographed the
living skull, denuded of flesh and hair, and has begun the adaptation
of the new photography to brain study. The relation of the new rays
to thought rays is being eagerly discussed in what may be called
the non-exact circles and journals; and all that numerous group
of inquirers into the occult, the believers in clairvoyance,
spiritualism, telepathy, and kindred orders of alleged phenomena, are
confident of finding in the new force long-sought facts in proof of
their claims. Professor Neusser in Vienna has photographed gall-stones
in the liver of one patient (the stone showing snow-white in the
negative), and a stone in the bladder of another patient. His results
so far induce him to announce that all the organs of the human body
can, and will, shortly, be photographed. Lannelougue of Paris has
exhibited to the Academy of Science photographs of bones showing
inherited tuberculosis which had not otherwise revealed itself. Berlin
has already formed a society of forty for the immediate prosecution
of researches into both the character of the new force and its
physiological possibilities. In the next few weeks these strange
announcements will be trebled or quadrupled, giving the best evidence
from all quarters of the great future that awaits the Roentgen rays,
and the startling impetus to the universal search for knowledge that
has come at the close of the nineteenth century from the modest little
laboratory in the Pleicher Ring at Wuerzburg.

[Illustration: A HUMAN FOOT PHOTOGRAPHED THROUGH THE SOLE OF A SHOE.
THE SHADING SHOWS THE PEGS OF THE SHOE, AS WELL AS TRACES OF THE FOOT.

From a photograph by Dr. W.L. Robb of Trinity College.]

[Illustration: PHOTOGRAPHING A FOOT IN ITS SHOE BY THE ROeNTGEN
PROCESS.--A PICTURE OF THE ACTUAL OPERATION WHICH PRODUCED THE
PHOTOGRAPH SHOWN ON PAGE 408.

From a photograph by Dr. W.L. Robb of Trinity College. The subject's
foot rests on the photographic plate.]

On instruction by cable from the editor of this magazine, on the
first announcement of the discovery, I set out for Wuerzburg to see the
discoverer and his laboratory. I found a neat and thriving Bavarian
city of forty-five thousand inhabitants, which, for some ten
centuries, has made no salient claim upon the admiration of the world,
except for the elaborateness of its mediaeval castle and the excellence
of its local beer. Its streets were adorned with large numbers of
students, all wearing either scarlet, green, or blue caps, and an
extremely serious expression, suggesting much intensity either in the
contemplation of Roentgen rays or of the beer aforesaid. All knew the
residence of Professor Roentgen (pronunciation: "Renken"), and directed
me to the "Pleicher Ring." The various buildings of the university are
scattered in different parts of Wuerzburg, the majority being in the
Pleicher Ring, which is a fine avenue, with a park along one side
of it, in the centre of the town. The Physical Institute, Professor
Roentgen's particular domain, is a modest building of two stories and
basement, the upper story constituting his private residence, and
the remainder of the building being given over to lecture rooms,
laboratories, and their attendant offices. At the door I was met by an
old serving-man of the idolatrous order, whose pain was apparent when
I asked for "Professor" Roentgen, and he gently corrected me with "Herr
Doctor Roentgen." As it was evident, however, that we referred to the
same person, he conducted me along a wide, bare hall, running the
length of the building, with blackboards and charts on the walls. At
the end he showed me into a small room on the right. This contained
a large table desk, and a small table by the window, covered
with photographs, while the walls held rows of shelves laden with
laboratory and other records. An open door led into a somewhat larger
room, perhaps twenty feet by fifteen, and I found myself gazing into
a laboratory which was the scene of the discovery--a laboratory which,
though in all ways modest, is destined to be enduringly historical.

There was a wide table shelf running along the farther side, in front
of the two windows, which were high, and gave plenty of light. In the
centre was a stove; on the left, a small cabinet, whose shelves held
the small objects which the professor had been using. There was a
table in the left-hand corner; and another small table--the one on
which living bones were first photographed--was near the stove, and
a Rhumkorff coil was on the right. The lesson of the laboratory was
eloquent. Compared, for instance, with the elaborate, expensive, and
complete apparatus of, say, the University of London, or of any of the
great American universities, it was bare and unassuming to a degree.
It mutely said that in the great march of science it is the genius of
man, and not the perfection of appliances, that breaks new ground in
the great territory of the unknown. It also caused one to wonder at
and endeavor to imagine the great things which are to be done through
elaborate appliances with the Roentgen rays--a field in which the
United States, with its foremost genius in invention, will very
possibly, if not probably, take the lead--when the discoverer himself
had done so much with so little. Already, in a few weeks, a skilled
London operator, Mr. A.A.C. Swinton, has reduced the necessary time
of exposure for Roentgen photographs from fifteen minutes to four.
He used, however, a Tesla oil coil, discharged by twelve half-gallon
Leyden jars, with an alternating current of twenty thousand volts'
pressure. Here were no oil coils, Leyden jars, or specially elaborate
and expensive machines. There were only a Rhumkorff coil and Crookes
(vacuum) tube and the man himself.

Professor Roentgen entered hurriedly, something like an amiable gust
of wind. He is a tall, slender, and loose-limbed man, whose whole
appearance bespeaks enthusiasm and energy. He wore a dark blue sack
suit, and his long, dark hair stood straight up from his forehead, as
if he were permanently electrified by his own enthusiasm. His voice is
full and deep, he speaks rapidly, and, altogether, he seems clearly a
man who, once upon the track of a mystery which appealed to him,
would pursue it with unremitting vigor. His eyes are kind, quick, and
penetrating; and there is no doubt that he much prefers gazing at a
Crookes tube to beholding a visitor, visitors at present robbing him
of much valued time. The meeting was by appointment, however, and his
greeting was cordial and hearty. In addition to his own language he
speaks French well and English scientifically, which is different from
speaking it popularly. These three tongues being more or less within
the equipment of his visitor, the conversation proceeded on an
international or polyglot basis, so to speak, varying at necessity's
demand.

It transpired, in the course of inquiry, that the professor is
a married man and fifty years of age, though his eyes have the
enthusiasm of twenty-five. He was born near Zurich, and educated
there, and completed his studies and took his degree at Utrecht. He
has been at Wuerzburg about seven years, and had made no discoveries
which he considered of great importance prior to the one under
consideration. These details were given under good-natured protest, he
failing to understand why his personality should interest the public.
He declined to admire himself or his results in any degree, and
laughed at the idea of being famous. The professor is too deeply
interested in science to waste any time in thinking about himself. His
emperor had _feted_, flattered, and decorated him, and he was loyally
grateful. It was evident, however, that fame and applause had small
attractions for him, compared to the mysteries still hidden in the
vacuum tubes of the other room.

[Illustration: BONES OF A HUMAN FOOT PHOTOGRAPHED THROUGH THE FLESH.

From a photograph by A.A.C. Swinton, Victoria Street, London.
Exposure, fifty-five seconds.]

"Now, then," said he, smiling, and with some impatience, when the
preliminary questions at which he chafed were over, "you have come to
see the invisible rays."

"Is the invisible visible?"

"Not to the eye; but its results are. Come in here."

He led the way to the other square room mentioned, and indicated
the induction coil with which his researches were made, an ordinary
Rhumkorff coil, with a spark of from four to six inches, charged by
a current of twenty amperes. Two wires led from the coil, through an
open door, into a smaller room on the right. In this room was a
small table carrying a Crookes tube connected with the coil. The most
striking object in the room, however, was a huge and mysterious tin
box about seven feet high and four feet square. It stood on end,
like a huge packing-case, its side being perhaps five inches from the
Crookes tube.

The professor explained the mystery of the tin box, to the effect that
it was a device of his own for obtaining a portable dark-room. When he
began his investigations he used the whole room, as was shown by the
heavy blinds and curtains so arranged as to exclude the entrance of
all interfering light from the windows. In the side of the tin box,
at the point immediately against the tube, was a circular sheet of
aluminium one millimetre in thickness, and perhaps eighteen inches
in diameter, soldered to the surrounding tin. To study his rays the
professor had only to turn on the current, enter the box, close the
door, and in perfect darkness inspect only such light or light effects
as he had a right to consider his own, hiding his light, in fact, not
under the Biblical bushel, but in a more commodious box.

"Step inside," said he, opening the door, which was on the side of
the box farthest from the tube. I immediately did so, not altogether
certain whether my skeleton was to be photographed for general
inspection, or my secret thoughts held up to light on a glass plate.
"You will find a sheet of barium paper on the shelf," he added, and
then went away to the coil. The door was closed, and the interior of
the box became black darkness. The first thing I found was a wooden
stool, on which I resolved to sit. Then I found the shelf on the
side next the tube, and then the sheet of paper prepared with barium
platino-cyanide. I was thus being shown the first phenomenon which
attracted the discoverer's attention and led to the discovery, namely,
the passage of rays, themselves wholly invisible, whose presence was
only indicated by the effect they produced on a piece of sensitized
photographic paper.

A moment later, the black darkness was penetrated by the rapid
snapping sound of the high-pressure current in action, and I knew
that the tube outside was glowing. I held the sheet vertically on
the shelf, perhaps four inches from the plate. There was no change,
however, and nothing was visible.

"Do you see anything?" he called.

"No."

"The tension is not high enough;" and he proceeded to increase the
pressure by operating an apparatus of mercury in long vertical tubes
acted upon automatically by a weight lever which stood near the coil.
In a few moments the sound of the discharge again began, and then I
made my first acquaintance with the Roentgen rays.

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