602 



NATURE 



[February 29, 191 2 



trated by the very simple experiment of burning some 

 magnesium sparking compound. In this process of fly- 

 ing to pieces the radium atom first gave off an atom of 

 helium which was called the a ray, and the remainder 

 of the atom evolved as a gas or emanation. The emana- 

 tion in its turn decomposed, losing half its energy in 

 about four days, and finally gave rise to an active deposit 

 of rapid change, which gave off a, /3, and 7 rays. The 

 action of the o rays on living cells was uncertain, but 

 from some experiments which the lecturer had carried 

 out with the " active deposit " from thorium he thought 

 that the action of these rays upon the skin must be very 

 slight. 



The biological effects of radium had been closely studied 

 upon a large variety of organisms. In the case of plants, 

 for instance, a tube of radium placed upon a leaf would 

 cause the irradiated area to lose its chlorophyll and to 

 assume autumn tints. .\ prolonged exposure retarded the 

 growth of seeds. .Anthrax microbes had been found not 

 to develop at all if left for twenty-four hours in an atmo- 

 sphere charged with radium emanations. In Metchni- 

 kofT's laboratory at the Pasteur Institute, recently, it had 

 been proved that certain toxins tended to lose their viru- 

 lence after being made radiferous. When diphtheritic 

 toxin was left for thirty days in contact with minute 

 quantities of radium sulphate, the poisonous effect of the 

 toxin was found to be much less rapid than in the case 

 of the same toxin which had not been treated in this 

 fashion. Young animals were particularly sensitive, 

 especially in the epithelial tissues, and when animals had 

 been killed by exposure to radium it was worthy of remark 

 that paralysis and death were found to be due to internal 

 haemorrhages. The nerve cells had not shown any 

 appreciable alteration. The central nervous system in all 

 cases, indeed, was very resistant to radium action, but it 

 suffered indirectly from the effects upon the vascular 

 tissues. 



" The date of my own first application of radium to the 

 treatment of disease," continued the lecturer, " was May, 

 1903. The case was a large rodent ulcer, just below the 

 right eye, which was rapidly progressing in spite of X-ray 

 treatment. Two glass tubes, each containing 5 mg. of 

 radium bromide, were applied tentatively for a short time 

 to the upper border of this ulcer, and the application was 

 cautiously repeated in the course of two or three days. 

 The improvement v^'as so manifest that the tubes were 

 applied in the same manner over the general surface of the 

 ulcer, which finally healed perfectly without scarring, and 

 has remained viell during the nine years that have since 

 elapsed." While incapable of effecting a cure in certain 

 severe and old-standing rodents, their progress was 

 arrested in a marked manner, and considerable improve- 

 ment of the condition was gained. " Radium has also 

 proved to have a markedly specific action upon a trouble- 

 some disease of the eyelids known as ' spring catarrh. ' 

 This occurs in young people, the upper eyelids more par- 

 ticularly being covered with rough granulations. The 

 disease was quite incurable until I applied radium to a 

 little boy sent to me by Mr. .Arnold Lawson, and with the 

 use of radium every case treated has been completely and 

 painlessly cured, k matter also worthy of remark is that 

 from the commencement of the treatment, even before any 

 appreciable improvement is visible, the patients express 

 themselves as feeling the eyes much more comfortable, and 

 they are able to use them in their ordinary occupations 

 during the period of treatment. 



" \ further indication for radium therapy was discovered 

 in the case of X-ray dermatitis. It was my misfortune to 

 suffer from a chronic manifestation of this trouble, and 

 three or four years ago a burnt patch on my hand became 

 ulcerated. One portion was so threatening as to suggest 

 malignancy, which is. unfortunately, a common result of 

 these lesions. As nothing that was tried would effect a 

 cure, it became a question of excision ; but before resort- 

 ing to this I applied radium in glass tubes, and was agree- 

 ably surprised to find that it completely cured the con- 

 dition. The tube contained 20 mg. of pure radium 

 bromide, and was left in position for twenty-five minutes. 

 Nothing happened for twelve days, and then there occurred 

 a certain amount of swelling and redness, the size of the 

 black crust increased, and serum exuded from the side. 



NO. 2209, VOL. 88] 



This gradually subsided, and when the crust peeled oflf th' 

 normal healthy thin skin was found to be beneath it.' 

 Some striking photographs illustrated successively tli- 

 dermatitis, the radium tube in position, the reaction, and 

 the disappearance of the sf>ot. 



The lecturer went on to describe the apparatus f<.r 

 spreading radium, for enclosing it in tubes of metal ai.'l 

 embedding it in the tumour, and for its metallic filtratimi 

 so as to obtain a desired penetrability of ray. So.n'- 

 diseases yielded to radium more readily than others. 

 Lupus was very resistant, but a great many other skin 

 diseases, as well as small cancers of the tongue and lip, 

 could be cured, while large, rapidly growing tumon 

 like sarcoma could be cured by the method of buryi: 

 tubes within them. Here, again, the fact was illustrai 

 that thesf rays seemed to concentrate their attack uji' 

 young and most rapidly growing cells. That was probal 

 the reason why sarcomas were so vulnerable to att.-o 

 when compared with carcinomas, which were of slow 

 growth. But in spite of its greater potency and conv* i 

 ence in application, the same thing had to be said 

 radium as was said of the X-rays — that it could not 

 any sense be looked upon as a 'cure for cancerous growt 

 of large size. It would inhibit the further growth of sm.. 

 tumours, and even destroy them locally, but rarely com- 

 pletely, and it did nothing to prevent the usual secondai \ 

 deposits. In the diseases for which the rays posses- 

 curative properties, their action was extraordinar; 

 selective, so that, if the dosage were well timed, th' 

 would destroy the abnormal cells without destroying tl 

 normal. 



The effect of the emanation of radium, which when d 

 solved could be injected into the tissues, or, like i 

 salt, could be confined in a metal tube and buried, \v 

 practically the same as with radium itself. The emai 

 tion gave 75 per cent, of the energy which would 

 obtained if the radium from which it came were embedil 

 in its stead. When introduced into the system by inh.i' 

 tion, by injection, or by swallowing, the emanation seen ■ 

 to have a capacity for stimulating the body ferments. 1! 

 produced a standard for the radium emanation which had 

 been given to him by Sir William Ramsay. It was in the 

 form of a bottle containing i /40,000th part of a milli- 

 gram of pure radium. 



In conclusion, the lecturer turned to the possibility of 

 other radio-active substances, less forbidding in price and 

 more readily available, taking the place of radium. 

 Uranium, thorium, and actinium were radio-active, and 

 had all been suggested in this connection, but they were 

 too feeble to have any real efficacy. The discovery hy 

 Otto Hahn of a substance known as meso-thorium, whi»h 

 was one of the disintegration products of thorium, and 

 was found in the course of an attempt to separate radio- 

 thorium directly from thorium, had aroused considern? '^ 

 expectation. Meso-thorium emitted the same rays 

 radium, and, weight for weight, was more powerful. \ 

 the supply of thorium was much larger than that of pitch- 

 blende, from which radium was obtained, they might hope 

 to have a larger supply of meso-thorium. It would cost 

 much less, but, on the other hand, it had a short life of 

 only about seven years. It was being experimented w;**" 

 medically in Germany. The lecturer had applied a tui 

 which he showed, equivalent to 10 mg. of pure radiu:. . 

 to a chronic patch of X-ray dermatitis on his hand, and a 

 reaction followed fifteen days after application. The result 

 promised to be favourable. 



Radio-thorium gave off thorium emanation richly. T' 

 was a heavy gas, lasting seventy-six seconds, giving on 

 a rays in profusion — rays which, impinging upon a sulphide 

 of zinc screen, caused it to glow or fluoresce, a remark- 

 able " spinthariscope " effect being observed when th- 

 screen was viewed with a magnifying glass. Thorium 

 emanation also resembled that of radium in giving rise to 

 an " active deposit," this becoming concentrated on the 

 negative pole in an electric field. .A metallic surface could 

 in this way be made intensely radio-active, giving forth 

 the o, 3, and 7 rays. The " active deposit " from the 

 thorium emanation lasted for several hours. Tht^ 

 lecture concluded with a very pretty demonstration 

 of the thorium emanation passing through long 

 tube*- 



