> Doctors, including Hart, were realizing that myriad illnesses—consumption, phthisis, phthisis pulmonalis, Koch's disease, scrofula, lupus vulgaris, white plag

> Doctors, including Hart, were realizing that myriad illnesses—consumption, phthisis, phthisis pulmonalis, Koch's disease, scrofula, lupus vulgaris, white plague, King's evil, Pott's disease, and Gibbus—were all in fact cases of tuberculosis (TB). TB usually attacked victims' lungs first; Hart was among the first physicians to document how it then spread, via the circulatory system, causing lesions on the kidneys, spine, and brain, eventually resulting in death. > Hart became interested in [X-rays] potential for detecting tuberculosis. Since the disease often presented no symptoms in its early stages, x-ray screening was invaluable for early detection. Even rudimentary early x-ray machines could detect the disease before it became critical. This allowed early treatment, often saving the patient's life. It also meant sufferers could be identified and isolated from the population, greatly lessening the spread of the disease. Incredible. Developed a fast means to accurately identify the most common killer in America, allowing doctors to treat it and isolate the infected. How many more would have died if no one has figured this out until even a year later.