BANISHING THE PLAGUES 



cancer to the influence of radiations from a small disk 

 coated with a radium salt. Apparent cures are quoted 

 in a large number of cases, chiefly superficial tumors. 

 Deepseated cancers have proved much less amenable 

 to treatment. Nevertheless the pain of inoperable 

 internal cancers is often relieved and their rate of 

 growth checked by the use of radium. 



The extraordinary influence of radium and the 

 allied chemicals over living tissues is being investi- 

 gated by almost every one who can secure a supply 

 of the rare drugs. One of the newest- claims is that 

 made by Dr. Saubermann of Berlin, to the effect that 

 radium can restore to a normal condition the hard- 

 ened arteries from which so many persons suffer in 

 middle and old age. Should this claim be confirmed 

 it will appear that radium has the power to cause 

 absorption of the calcareous deposits to which hard- 

 ening of the arteries is due. An altogether different 

 function has been ascribed to another radioactive 

 substance known as thorium X, which is a particular- 

 ly active member of the family of products, each 

 regarded as an element, resulting from the disinte- 

 gration of thorium. 



Thorium X is dissolved in or incorporated with a 

 solution of salt, and tests have been made as to its 

 effects on living tissues. In relatively large quantities 

 it is shown to be inhibitive to the cellular activities. 

 Dr. Francis E. Park, of Stoneham, Massachusetts, 

 reports in the Medical Record, the results of experi- 

 ments which show that seeds soaked in strong solu- 

 tions of thorium lose their power to grow, and that 

 the drug may prove fatal to dogs. On the other 



235 



