Originally published in C. R. Acad. Sci., Paris 178, 1324 (1924) 



16. RADIOCHEMICAL METHOD OF STUDYING THE 

 CIRCULATION OF BISMUTH IN THE BODY 



I. A. Christiansen, G. Hevesy and S. Lomholt 



Fi-om the Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Copenhagen 



During recent years l)ismuth has acquired increasing importance in 

 the treatment of syphilis^i^ In order to study the conditions of absorption, 

 distribution in the body and elimination, we have used a radiochemical 

 method which was first proposed by Hevesy and by Paneth^^) 



The principle of the method is as follows: The medicament is prepared 

 from a mixture of a bismuth salt solution and a solution containing a 

 radioisotope, radium-P], of this element. It is well known that a final 

 measurement of the quantity of radioisotope present in the sample 

 suffices for calculating the quantity of inactive bismuth. 



Radium-E was extracted with a hydrochloric acid solution from 

 radium-D, which had been produced by disintegration of the emanation 

 from a quantity of radium corresponding to 2—4 c. The experiments 

 were performed on rabbits. From time to time small quantities of an oil 

 suspension of the medicament were injected intramuscularly. The rabbits 

 were killed after about 15 days. 



The following samples were examined: (1) the places of injection; 

 (2) the most important organs; (3) the daily amount of urine; (4) the 

 daily amount of faeces; (5) small known amounts of the suspension used 

 in the experiment. 



All the organic tissues were prepared for analysis by charring with 

 small quantities of fuming nitric acid; the ash was dissolved in dilute 

 nitric acid and the acid was evaporated of in a petri dish; the radio- 

 activity of the small quantity of salts remaining at the bottom of the 

 capsule was finally determined electroscopically by measuring the /5-rays 

 of the radium-E. The a-rays from the polonium present in the residue 

 were absorbed by means of an aluminium foil about 0.05 mm thick. 

 Control experiments have shown that the maximum error of the various 

 experiments performed by this method is about 10 per cent. 



1 Sazerac and Levaditi, C. R. Acad. Sci., Paris 172, 1391 (1921); Ibid. 173, 



338 (1921). 

 - See Aston, The Isotopes, London (1923); F. Paneth, Z. atigew. Chem. 35, 549 



(1922); G. Hevesy, Biochem. J. 17, 441 (1923). 



