THE RADIUM TREATMENT.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXX, Issue 1786, 19 February 1904, Page 3

THE RADIUM TREATMENT.

"What is the iuture of radium, that mysterious metal whose internal /ires must have been at work when the earth itself was a sun, and will continue m'ter mn'tiy bodies, now suns, have growi' cold?" It is onlv a few months since an English savant propounded that, question. Science has already begun to answer it Radium was until recently treated only as some new wonderful toy possessed of powers and peculiarities that opened up hitherto undreamt of regions of scientific, investigation, but its ultimate service in a utilitarian sense was generally 'doubted. Radium, however, is now found in the laboratories of up-to-date hospitals and in the studies of not a few surgeons. There are men who affirm that radium will eventually bring about a revolution in surgery and medicine; that it will cure maladies that are now regarded as incurable—that, in fact, this yellow atom, so insignificant in appearance, will eventually prove one of the greatest boons to ailing mankind ever discovered. Time alone can justify these hopes. Meanwhile, what has radium already done?

At the Middlesex Hospital, two cases oi' lupus are under treatment by means of radio-activity, that .subtle, imperceptible emission of sparks that goes on continuously without effecting any change or loss in the metal itself. "The progress in each case has been satisfactory," report the hospital authorities, "but it is too early to pronounce a definite cure." From Scotland, however, comes news of a case of lupus cured after (lour weeks' treatment by radium. The dreadful disfigurements borne by the patients are said to have disappeared. The radium used in such operations is enclosed in a case, which in appearance may be compared to the pepper-grinding contrivances usually seen on the tables of French restaurants. At one end is a glass disc, behind which a few specks of the radium may be observed. This end is applied to the affected parts, and the rays, which fly oil' with the rapidity of light, or at the rate oi 185,000 miles a second, penetrate the glass and eat Into the fleshy The resultant wound requires considerable time to heal, in some cases several months.

Surgeons are speculating as to the probability of radium proving a euro for the dread scourge of cancer. Two cases in Vienna were treated by local applications of radium, and the disease is said to have disappeared under its influence. Time must be allowed to see if the disease will reassert itself before absolute cures can be pronounced. Evtn more remarkable are the results of experiments recently carried out by Professor Lunden, a Russian scientist. It is claimed that by radium he made the blind to see. Two boys, aged 11 and 13 years, who bad been sightless since the first year of their lives were taken into a dark room. A tube containing radium was held near their iorenea'ds and eyes. At the same time, the outlines of familiar objects were thrown on to a screen illuminated by radium. By associating the pictures with the knowledge acquired by the sense of touch, the boys wore able to recognise a number of coins, a key, a cross, and other articles. It is averred that t.hey have now learned the Russian alphabet, and can read words.

The potency of the rays is illustrated by otlier experiments conducted by the professor. He tightly bound 'tile eyes of two persons so that they could not see. Then he held radium within a few inches of the forehead, or skull, and the blindfold persons, it is declared, were able to clearly distinguish objects in the darkened room. London opthalmic surgeons are not satisfied as to the condition of the optic nerves of the persons whose eyesight is reputed to have been restored, but do not 'deny the possibilities of radium in bringing sight to the eyes of persons who are not born blind. Science has as yet barely touched the fringe of the potentialities that lie in radium. Almost daily further discoveries of its utility are being made, and even the ieast imaginative of investigators hesitates to say what future it may have.

Nasal troubles have been treated by small tubes containing radium being inserted up the nostrils. Radium has been used in cases of persistent neuralgia. It has destroyed the bacilli of typhoid, cholera, and anthrax. It is as potent to kill as to cure. Small quantities of radium brought into proximity with liping creaturfes deal out death, sure though mysterious. Live mice exposed to the influence of three-hun-dred ths of a grain oi radium salt were seized with paralysis of the cerebral nervous system, succeeded by complete suspension of all the functions and death. A larger quantity of radium placed in a room in the presence of a person unable to escape would, authorities declare, produce the same effects. Herein there appears to be a hint for some up-to-date sensational novelist. Scientists, doctors, and chemists who handle radium in the small amounts now obtainable have to exercise great care to avoid bodily injury. Sir Win. Crookes recently carried a piece in his waistcoat pocket to a soiree at the Iloyal Society, and on reaching home found that it had burnt a severe blister in his side. Many oxporimentcrs now carry the substance in small lead boxes. Although radium burns, the sensation is of cold rathor than heat. There is, in short, no end to the vagaries and wonder-working effects of the metal. Poofessor Q. Ilohn exposed the larvae of frogs to radium rays. The larvae showed decided acceleration of growth, and became tadpoles in eight days. Further exposure of the tadpoles to radium resulted in their becoming monstrosities. The. scarcity and doarness of radium retard a more general research into its possibilities. At present it is sold in Germany, whence it is imported into Britain, at 8s por milligramme. At this rate, one pound of it, if such a quantity were obtainable, would cost over £IBO,OOO. It announce#, however, that a com-

pany has boon promoted to extract the element from u great deposit of uranium ore in Grand County, Utah. In view 01' the small quantity of radium as yet in existence and its brief scientific history, the investigations into its practical uses, particularly in surgical operations, are startling in their results. It would be a brave man who ventured to say what future radium has in the service of mankind.