OCTOBEB 31, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



619 



tant publications from leading American 

 authorities, who have had real experience 

 in radium therapy. It is to be greatly 

 regretted that, owing to the high price of 

 the material, only three or four American 

 surgeons have, so far as the Bureau of 

 Mines is informed, been able to use it in 

 quantities sufficient for the drawing of 

 decisive conclusions. In the progress of 

 the future applications of radium to the 

 curing of disease, nothing is more to be 

 feared than its use in nostrums of every 

 kind. The ' ' wonders of radium ' ' have been 

 so extensively exploited in the public press 

 that already the name is being employed as 

 a psychological agent in advertisements of 

 all kinds of materials, many of which con- 

 tain no radium at all, or, if this element is 

 indeed present, in such small quantities that 

 no therapeutic value can be expected. As 

 bearing on the need of further experiment, 

 attention is called to the fact that the con- 

 centrated action of large quantities of 

 radium may effect cures that have been 

 impossible with the smaller amounts here- 

 tofore available to the medical profession. 

 It is doubtful if there is at the present time 

 in the hands of the medical profession of 

 America more than a single gram of this 

 rare element, and the results of investiga- 

 tions soon to be published will show that 

 the concentrated action of the gamma rays 

 from several hundred milligrams arrest cer- 

 tain forms of cancer and other malignant 

 growths when smaller quantities are with- 

 out beneficial effect. It is highly important 

 that the medical profession should also have 

 some guarantee of the material they pur- 

 chase, even if it is purchased in small quan- 

 tities, and I am glad to note that the U. S. 

 Bureau of Standards is preparing to stand- 

 ardize radium preparations. As several 

 frauds in the sale of radium have already 

 been perpetrated upon American physi- 

 cians, they should all require that the 



quality of the material purchased should 

 be certified under conditions which prevent 

 error. 



In closing, I take pleasure in saying that 

 I am authorized by the Director of the 

 Bureau of Mines to announce that a co- 

 operative agreement has been entered into 

 with the newly organized National Radium 

 Institute, whereby the Bureau obtains the 

 opportunity of a scientific and technological 

 study of the mining and concentrating of 

 carnotite ores and of the most efficient 

 methods of obtaining radium, vanadium 

 and uranium therefrom, with a view to in- 

 creased efficiency of production and the 

 prevention of waste. 



The National Radium Institute was re- 

 cently incorporated with the following 

 officers : 



Howard A. Kelly, of Baltimore, President. 

 Curtis F. Burnam, of Baltimore, Vice- 

 president. 

 Archibald Douglas, of New York, Secretary 



and Treasurer. 

 James Douglas, of New York, and E. J. 



Maloney, of Wilmington, as additional 



directors. 



The institute has no connection with the 

 mining of pitchblende, details of which re- 

 cently appeared in the Denver papers. It 

 has, however, obtained the right to mine 27 

 claims in the Paradox Valley region, among 

 which are some of the best mines in this 

 richest radium-bearing region of the world. 

 Nearly 100 tons of high-grade carnotite 

 have already been procured. Under the 

 agreement with the Bureau of Mines, the 

 technical operations of the mines and mill 

 are to be guided by the scientific staff of the 

 Bureau. Work will begin in an experimen- 

 tal plant to be erected in Colorado, using 

 entirely new methods developed at the Den- 

 ver office of the Bureau of Mines. Concen- 

 tration experiments also will be conducted 

 in the Paradox, probably at the Long Park 



