AUTHOR’S ABSTRACT OF THIS PAPER ISSUED 
BY THE BIBLIOGRAPHIC SERVICE, DECEMBER 27 
DISTURBANCES IN MAMMALIAN DEVELOPMENT 
PRODUCED BY RADIUM EMANATION 
HALSEY J. BAGG 
Huntington Fund for Cancer Research, Memorial Hospital and the Department 
of Anatomy, Cornell University Medical College, New York City 
TEN TEXT FIGURES AND THREE PLATES (FIGURES ELEVEN TO FIFTEEN) 
The effects of radium on animal development has been the 
subject of several researches since the early work of Bohn (1), 
in 1903, upon the ova and larvae of the sea-urchin. ‘ Experiments 
on developing nematodes, molluscs, amphibians, fishes, and birds 
are associated with the names of Perthes (2), P. Hertwig (3), 
Schaper (4), O. Hertwig (5), and G. Hertwig (6). These investi- 
gators report developmental retardations following radiation of 
the ova and developing embryos. They found a particular sus- 
ceptibility of the nuclei of the cells and a general slowing up in the 
developmental processes, especially in the case of the central 
nervous system. The total disturbances, depending upon the 
period of development when the radiation was applied, resulted 
in the formation of monstrosities conforming more or less to a 
general type.! 
Similar experiments concerning the effects of x-rays on develop- 
ment have been conducted by many investigators. After ex- 
posure to x-radiation, Perthes (7) noted abnormal cell division 
and a retardation in the development of the ova of Ascaris mega- 
1 In connection with the above statement, and applying to x-ray treatments 4s 
well, the question of dosage is an important one. A survey of the literature shows 
that there was a very wide range in the severity of the dose employed, and in sev- 
eral cases the experimental settings were inadequately described (Bohn used 
‘some centigrams’ of pure radium bromide for from twenty minutes to two hours). 
The amount of radium metal used in the investigations that have been mentioned 
varied from 2 mg. to 35.1 mg., and the time from a few seconds to several hours. 
The deleterious changes in the animal tissues varied with the amount of radium 
and the time of exposure. 
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THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ANATOMY, VOL. 30, No. 1 
