The book was published during the summer of 1896 by Bubier Publishing, Lynn, MA.
In addition to his own original descriptions the author has compiled articles from the leading electrical journals which include: Bubier's Popular Electrician, The Electrical World, The Electrical Engineer, The Electrical Review, Electricity, The Western Electrician, The New York World, The Boston Post and the Scientific American.
The book consists of three chapters.
Also included is a description of the Crookes tube which
can be used for x-ray production. In a discussion first published in the
Electrical World, Elihu Thomson describes an improved design for an x-ray
tube which contains concave cathodes which focus the cathode rays onto
a metal anode. This design should produce more intense radiation with a
much smaller actual source than the conventional Crookes tube. This design
is illustrated below.
The results of many experiments by several investigators are included. These are illustrated with excellent images, especially of hands.
One especially interesting image is the photograph of
the hand of a corpse, taken by means of the Roentgen rays, by Mr. Haschek
and Dr. Lindenthal, in Professor Franz Exner's physicochemical institute
in Vienna. To them belongs the honor of being the first to apply the wonderful
discovery of the Wurzburg investigator to a new branch of research. The
vessels in the hand--which was the hand of an old woman--are shown by the
injection of Teichmann's mixture, which consists of lime, cinnabar (mercury)
and petroleum. This is shown below.
There exist at the present time three methods of obtaining the X-rays. That employed in the very beginning is based on the direct action of the ray. The second permits of obtaining instantaneity in the radiograph, and is based on a reflection action. The third is a result of the combination of the first two methods.
In the accompanying engravings, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 20, 21, 24, 26, 28 and 32 are constructed according to the principles of the first methods. Nos. 5, 8, 9, 15, 16, 23, 25, 27, 29 and 30 employ the second method; that is, the theory of the reflection of the cathode rays and of the phenomenon of internal electrolysis of the volatilized molecules. The tubes Nos. 19, 22 and 31 produce X-rays according to the two combined theories.
The numbers accompanying each tube designate the design of the various experimenters, as follows: 1 and 2, Crookes ; 3, Seguy; 4, Wood; 5, Seguy; 6, Chabaud-Hurmuzescu; 7, Seguy; 8, Thompson; 9, Seguy; 10, d'Arsonval; 11, Seguy; 12, Puluj; 13, Seguy; 14, d'Arsonval; 15, Le Roux; 16, 17 and 18, Seguy; 19, de Rufz; 20, Crookes; 21, 22, 23, Seguy; 24, Roentgen; 25, Brunet-Seguy; 26, 27, Le Roux; 28, Colardeau; 29, Seguy; 30, Colardeau; 31, Seguy; 32, Roentgen.