April i8, 191 8] 



NATURE 



137 



separate pavilion, connected to the main building and 

 wards by corridors. These two -buildings complete a 

 scheme for the investigation and treatment of disease 

 which is one of the most complete in this or any other 

 country. 



In the radiotherapeutic department are to be found 

 the latest forms of electrical apparatus. These allow 

 a wide range of wave-length for the tr^qtment of 

 disease by radiations, commencing with the ultra- 

 violet radiation to the very penetrating y ray of radium. 

 The hospital possesses a large quantity of < radium, 

 which is in constant use in the department. Originally 

 inaugurated for the treatment of patients suffering 

 from cancer and allied diseases, the department was, at 

 the outbreak of war, offered to, and accepted by, the 

 War Office for the treatment of wounded soldiers. 

 Of these a large nurhber have been treated by X-rays, 

 radium, and electrical methods, this work being carried 

 on in addition to the ordinary work of the department. 

 An interesting development in radium therapy has 

 been inaugurated in this department, a number of 

 soldiers having been treated by radium and X-rays 

 for keloid scars of the face and neck. These result 

 from gunshot wounds, and frequently require plastic 

 operations to restore the parts destroyed by the injury. 

 Radiation treatment greatly aids the surgeon in his 

 operative efforts by softening the scar tissue. A num- 

 ber of cases have been successfully treated in this way. 

 The use of electricity in the treatment and diagnosis 

 of disease is well shown b}- the various forms of appa- 

 ratus seen in the radiographic and radiotherapeutic 

 department. High-tension transformers and large coil 

 outfits are used for the energising of the X-rav tubes, 

 of w'hich a number are in daily use. The Coolidge 

 tube is used exclusively for treatment. Diathermy and 

 other forms of high-frequency a,pparatus are used for the 

 relief of pain and for the surgical treatment of disease. 

 Continuous and interrupted currents are used for the 

 treatment of diseases and injuries of muscles, bones, 

 and joints. 



The radiographic side of the work was demonstrated 

 in the large radiographic room, where a Siemens 

 ' single-impulse apparatus was shown at work in con- 

 junction with a Coolidge tube. A new piece of appa- 

 ratus, designed by Mr. C. A. Holland, was also shown. 

 This is a stereoscopic plate-changing stand which 

 allows of two plates being exposed in about half 

 A second. It is worked by a large flywheel, which 

 actuates a mechanism for changing the plates, shifting 

 the tube, and automatically making the exposure. This 

 will be found to be extremely useful when stereoscopic 

 plates of the thorax or abdomen are required, where 

 it is essential that no great interval should elapse 

 between the two exposures. 



Two papers were read and discussed at the joint 

 meeting ; these very appropriatelv dealt with recent 

 applications of electricity to medicine. Diathermy — 

 the use of the electrical current to raise the tempera- 

 ture of the body in the treatment of disease — was the 

 subject of a paper by Dr. E. P. Cumberbatch. A very 

 clear description of the action of the high-tension cur- 

 rent, the method of its production, and the uses to 

 which it can be put in practical work claimed the 

 appreciative attention of the audience. Diathermy is 

 one of the most recent of the many electrical methods 

 used in the treatment of disease ; when its value is 

 more fully realised by the medical profession, and 

 the technique of its application is more developed, 

 it will undoubtedly become a routine and valuable 

 method for the treatment of diseases which are at 

 present uninfluenced by other forms of treatment. It 

 is a valuable agent to use in combination with X-rays 

 and radium. 



The second paper was on " Single-impulse Radio- 



NO. 2529, VOL. lOl] 



graphy : its Limitations and Possibilities," by Dr. R. 

 Knox, director of the electrical and radiotherapeutic 

 department of the hospital. The limitations of the 

 apparatus at present in use were demonstrated, and a 

 plea was made for help in the designing and production 

 of more powerful apparatus. 



In addition to the permanent apparatus in the hos- 

 pital a number of new forms of electrical appa- 

 ratus were exhibited by several firms. These 

 attracted a good deal of attention and amply demon- 

 strated that the manufacturers of this, country can pro- 

 duce high-class apparatus equal to the product of any 

 pther. Given closer co-operation between physicists, 

 .electrical engineers, medical men, and manufacturers, 

 ,it should be possible in the future for British manu- 

 facturers more than to hold their own in open com- 

 petition with other countries. 



The meeting was well attended by a large number of 

 the members of the Institution of Electrical Engineers 

 and of the Electrotherapeutic Section of the Royal 

 Society of Medicine. The council of the institution is 

 to be warmly congratulated on the success of the meet- 

 ing, and it is to be hoped that it may be the forerunner 

 of manv more of a similar character. 



SILVANUS THOMPSON MEMORIAL 

 LECTURE. 



AT the meeting of the Rontgen Society held on 

 April 9, with Capt. G. VV. C. Kaye, president, 

 in the chair, Sir Ernest Rutherford delivered the first 

 Silvanus Thompson Memorial lecture. He dealt with 

 the important advances in our knowledge of the con- 

 stitution of matter, resulting from the discovery of 

 X-rays in 1895. The following brief abstract indicates 

 the scope of the address. 



The discovery of the X-rays marks the commence- 

 ment of a new epoch in physical science, for in the 

 attempts which were immediately made to ascertain the 

 nature of the unknown radiation attention was directed 

 to the study of radiation in general, and new pheno- 

 mena were soon encountered. A general investigation 

 of the cathode rays and of the nature of the discharge 

 of electricity through gases led to the discovery of the 

 "electron" and to the putting forward of the " ionisa- 

 tion theory" by Sir J. J. Thomson. Prof. Townsend 

 followed up the initial work by his theory of ionisation 

 by collision, and Prof. O. W. Richardson investigated 

 the emission of ions from incandescent solids. All this 

 w'ork was originally of academic interest solely, but 

 within the last few years the practical applications 

 have been shown to possess immense value. These in- 

 clude the production of detectors and amplifiers for 

 wireless telegraphy, electrical rectifiers and oscillators 

 by which radiotelephony across the Atlantic is now pos- 

 sible, and the Coolidge X-ray tube, which is destined 

 to play an important part in radiology and in pure 

 science. 



From the outset X-rays and the phenomena of phos- 

 phorescence were generally thought to be connected, 

 and Becquerel, while in search of " invisible " or 

 X-radiations from certain phosphorescent salts, d'ls- 

 covere<l the radio-activity of uranium compounds. The 

 brilliant researches of the Curies, by which this dis- 

 covery was followed, resulted in the isolation of the 

 radio-active elements, polonium and radium. Numer- 

 ous other radio-active elements were brought to light, 

 and the chaotic condition which ensued was not re- 

 duced to order until the introduction of the trans- 

 .formation theory by the lecturer. Difficulties regard- 

 ing the periodic classification were overcome by Prof. 

 iSoddy, who applied the term " isotope " to substances 

 .which occupy the same place in the periodic table. 



