HUMAN BODY

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 April 1934, Page 9

HUMAN BODY

PRESENCE OF METALS. Speaking to the Siaifordsliiie branch of the British Medical Association, Dr J- H. Sheldon, of the Roval Hospital, Wolverhampton, gaic a list of metals that may be found in the human body, and described research work he had been doing in the discovery of these. There is lead in the eye, silver m the thyroid gland, and there may be tin in the tongue, but why they are all there is a mystery which science is only just beginning to probe. The list of minerals which may be found in the body, Dr Sheldon stated has been almost indefinitely extended. It includes silicon, which is very nearly glass; arsenic, whici is quite definitely lethal; and manganese, which we should be more inclined to look for in steel. In deciphering these elements in the body. Dr Sheldon has himself played an important part, and in his address he paid tribute to the valuable work of Mr H. Ramage, of Norwich. who has made use of the most delicate methods of light analysis for the same purpose. Silver has a stimulating effect on the growth of watercress, and causes a precocious development of the nicoI, inc-secreting hairs of the tobacco plant, while having a stunting effect on I he roots. The thyroid gland, which in human beings is connected with growth, is especially rich in. Mlver. So are the tonsils, which, are particularly active in childhood. Zinc, which we chiefly associate wilii pulviinised iron, is also found in all tiss.in.s. and, al least in the rat, is essential to normal reproduction. Manganese is found in the blood and suprarenal glands, which play an important part in the control of the I entire sympathetic nervous system. Although a poisonous gas, bromine is constantly present in the blood. But in cases of manic depressive psychosis, the amount is cut down to half. Bromine may also be connect ed with old age, for the amount in the blood decreases after the age of •15, and by 75 only the merest trace can be found.

“It is hardly yet realised," Dr Sheldon states, “how much the balance of the ‘trace’ elements may be altered in our diet by the -widespread use of various chemical feitilisers and insecticides. There can bo little doubt that, with advance in knowledge, this will need investigation.” In conclusion, Dr Sheldon states that, the body cannot be regarded as a democracy, but is rather an oligarchy, in which a large number of passive elements are ordered and governed by a. small minority of active ones. “The biological investigation of these very active elements,” he ends his survey, “cannot but be fruitful.”