ArScfo°berPiSm-}         A  Use  for  the  Rare  Metals.  515 
ficial  sunlight — for  the  sun  contains  helium — then  we  will  have  a 
light  to  experiment  with  far  in  advance  of  the  electric  bulb  now 
placed  in  the  human  stomach  for  the  purpose  of  clinical  and  other 
observations ;  and  when  helium  is  put  into  further  practical  use,  we 
will  also  have  something  to  work  by  in  our  laboratories  that  will 
be  akin  to  sunlight,  and  thus  save  many  a  sweltering  and  many  a 
headache  now  caused  by  modern  artificial  lights. 
Acting  upon  the  discoveries  of  Dr.  Meade  Bolton,  the  searcher 
for  that  which  will  lengthen  human  life  by  destroying  disease  will 
most  likely  be  guided  by  the  cue,  given  by  the  doctor,  that  the 
metals  most  readily  attacked  by  chemical  reagents  are  most  effective 
in  the  destruction  of  microbal  life.  A  comparatively  short  investi- 
gation will  enable  the  student  or  the  searcher  after  this  knowledge 
to  make  a  list  of  the  metals  required.  Possibly,  most  of  the  metals 
on  the  list  can  be  obtained  at  once  and  with  little  difficulty.  But 
when  the  others  are  desired  I  would  suggest  that  they  be  sought 
through  parties  skilled  in  obtaining  them,  either  in  the  United  States 
or  abroad,  and  I  believe  it  is  now  conceded  that  every  known  min- 
eral and  metal  has  been  found  in  the  United  States,  and  by  far  the 
largest  number  in  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  western  South  Carolina, 
Georgia,  Alabama  and  eastern  Tennessee.  Only  a  short  time  ago, 
in  an  area  of  less  than  five  square  miles,  I  found  and  classified  138 
species  of  minerals,  more  than  half  of  them  of  the  rarer  varieties.  I 
believe  it  is  possible  to  make  even  a  longer  list,  and  that  the  locality 
I  refer  to  is  not  the  only  place  in  the  United  States  where  so  many 
can  be  found. 
It  is  quite  evident,  then,  that  when  an  antidote  is  found,  the  min- 
eral will  be  forthcoming  in  ample  quantities  to  make  the  antidote 
effective  and  widespread. 
It  seems  to  the  writer  that  all  these  medicinal  elements  for  the 
restoration  to  health  of  bacteria-troubled  patients  is  right  in  the  line 
of  advanced  pharmacy.  Being  in  that  line,  why  ought  not  the  phar- 
macists of  this  country  to  be  first  to  make  efforts  in  the  way  where 
they  will  naturally  travel  ere  long  ?  I  shall  watch  with  keen  interest 
any  steps  taken  by  the  pharmaceutical  world  in  the  direction  pointed 
out  in  this  article. 
Harrisburg,  Pa.,  September  12,  1895. 
