3<54 



NATURE 



[January 19, 191 i 



activity of the mixture is inversely proportional to the 

 quantity of the barium salt. In the treatment of 

 cancerous tumours, apparatus of 500,000 activity are 

 used. Such an apparatus usually contains from 4 to 

 10 milligrams of powder, consisting of one part of 

 radium salt to three of barium salt. Cancers suitable 

 for radium treatment range from those of small size 

 to those of 20 to 30 square centimetres in area. The 

 apparatus may be used in two different ways, either 

 by the so-called dry method, consisting of short, fre- 

 quently repeated applications causing resolution of the 

 diseased tissue without external destruction, or the 

 destructive method in which the apparatus is left in 

 place from seven to ten hours, causing extensive 

 destruction of the morbid tissue followed by cicatrisa- 

 tion in eight to ten weeks. 



For cancers which extend, deeply filtration of the 

 rays is employed by the interposition of a half to 

 several millimetres thickness of lead. In this way 

 only the ultra-penetrating rays (the gamma-rays and 

 the hardest beta-rays) are allowed to enter the tissues. 

 Long exposures are then given varying from 24 to 120 

 hours. These ultra-penetrating rays produce very 

 little change in the healthy cells of the part, while 

 they have a selective action on the cancer cells, lead- 

 ing to their destruction. The progress of a successful 

 case is as follows : — After a short time (three to eight 

 days) the tumour commences to diminish in size. 

 Cicatrisation then begins and is completed in two 

 to four weeks, or longer in obstinate cases. In 

 the case of ulcerating tumours, a certain amount of 

 discharge occurs during all the stages. For large and 

 deeply-extending tumours the method of "cross-fire" 

 is usually employed, two or more radium apparatus 

 being applied at different points around the tumour 

 in such a way that the ultra-penetrating rays cross in 

 the depths of the tumour. In this way the deeper 

 parts of a growth can be subjected to the influence of 

 the gamma-rays far more effectively than with a single 

 disc of radium. 



The general conclusion is to the effect that most 

 cancerous growths can be reduced in size by the appli- 

 cation of radium. Some of the less malignant forms 

 of growth can apparently be cured, while in the more 

 malignant cases the temporary improvement is of 

 short duration, and is followed by further extension 

 of the growth. 



The treatment of lupus is described— the method of 

 using sunlight concentrated by means of a large hollow 

 lens formed of two plates of glass 10 or 12 inches in 

 diameter, one of which is flat and the other convex, 

 the cavity being filled with sulphate of copper solution 

 to absorb the heat rays. The use of the electric arc 

 lamp as described by Fin sen arose naturally from the 

 solar method, and is now too well known to require 

 description. In the case of both the sunlight and the 

 electric arc it is recognised that the violet and the 

 ultra-violet rays are those principally concerned in the 

 curative action. The mercury-vapour lamp, being 

 particularly rich in violet and ultra-violet rays, is very 

 effective, particularly when a tube of quartz is used 

 in place of glass. It is far less expensive than the 

 Finsen arc lamp, and has taken the place of Finsen 

 lamps for many purposes. X-ray treatment and 

 NO. 215 1, VOL. 85] 



radium treatment have also been employed in the 

 treatment of lupus. The author considers light treat- 

 ment the most efficacious, while radium has not been 

 employed long enough for its value to be estimated 

 in the case of lupus. 



Ringworm is now almost universally treated with 

 the Rontgen rays. A full account of the technical 

 details of this method is given, and the precautions 

 necessary to prevent injury to the patient. Th- 

 object of the method is to accomplish the removal ot 

 all the diseased hairs from the affected area of the 

 scalp. It is found that a properly applied dose of 

 X-rays results, after a fortnight, in the loosening of 

 the hairs, which then fall out leaving a perfectly 

 bald area which can be readily and effectively treated 

 by antiseptic applications. When there are numerous 

 patches of ringworm scattered over the scalp it is 

 necessary to produce epilation of the entire scalp. 

 For this purpose the scalp is divided into ten or 

 twelve areas which are exposed in turn, care being 

 taken to prevent overlapping, as this would result in 

 the administration of an excessive dose to some parts 

 of the scalp. Dermatitis would appear in the over- 

 exposed portions, and permanent baldness would prob- 

 ably result. After a correct dose the hairs begin to 

 grow anew after two or three months, and the new 

 hairs are free from the disease. By the X-ray method 

 of treatment the cure of a case of ringworm is com- 

 pleted in three months, whereas the older methods of 

 treatment by local applications extended for periods of 

 two years or even longer. In the case of the children 

 of the poor treated in public institutions the saving of 

 public funds that has resulted from the introduction 

 of the X-ray treatment of ringworm has been very 

 considerable, and the advantage to the education of 

 the children is self-evident, for while there are any 

 infected hairs on the head it is necessary for the 

 children to be rigorously excluded from intercourse 

 with other children. 



Many other diseases are described in which elec- 

 trical methods of treatment have been used with suc- 

 cess. The methods are now firmly established, and 

 the range of their utility is being defined with ever- 

 increasing accuracy. A. C. Jordan. 



DEDUCTION AND DENUDATION. 



Geographical Essays. By Prof. W. M. Davis. Edited 



by Prof. D. W. Johnson. Pp. vi + 777. (London 



Boston, New York, and Chicago: Ginn and C^ 



n.d.) Price 12s. 6d. net. 



PROF. D. W. JOHNSON has done good s' 

 vice to science by editing this collection 

 the valuable memoirs by which Prof. W. M. Daw 

 has done so much to advance physical geography and 

 improve geographical education. The volume includes 

 twenty-six papers hitherto scattered in twenty-one 

 serials. The first twelve contributions are essays and 

 lectures on geographical pedagogics; the remaining 

 fourteen deal with various principles of physiography. 

 It would perhaps have been more convenient if the 

 two series had been issued separately, for the volume, 

 though containing no plates, is heavy for its size, and 

 while the physiographic essays may be read with great 



