USES OF RADIO WAVES

Grey River Argus, 17 June 1933, Page 2

USES OF RADIO WAVES

DESTROYERS OF INSECTS. 'The use of high-frequency current, for medical purposes was first suggested by Tesla in IS9I. Two years later D’Arsonval conducted some experiments on human hnd animal subjects with high-frequency waves, using an indirect method, and found these currents to act energetically on I the vitality of tissue. I In 1900 Hengstenberg found that , high-frequency currents could be used for sterilising substances of many kinds. Esau demonstrated in 1926 an ultra short wave therapy apparatus, and Schliephake pointed out before the. Berlin Medical Society that short ra-dio waves furnish means of direct attack on pa.thologic foci, which heretofore was possibh l only through the use of Rout gen rays. hi September, 1926, Scherosehewsky reported the results of his experiments on physiological effects on laboratory animals of currents of very high frequency. In December, 1927, Mr. J. 11. Davis observed that the filament and gases in an incadescent lamp became luminous when held in close, proximity to a high-capacity antenna emitting six-metre waves. In a contribution to the Scientific American, Mr. Davis,'who is chief engineer of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, points out that about 1927 it was observed that workmen testing' radio equipment experienced an elevation of body temperature, and in 1928 Hosmer determined that this method could be used for producing in animals any degree of fever at will. A few hospitals are now using short waves for the production of artificial fever in pa-tients undergoing treatment for certain diseasM r. Davis says he was impressed by the observations and studies which he had made with the thought that shortwave energy, if of sufficient capa-city and concentrated in a narrow space, z would constitute an effective agency for the extermination of insects in all stages of their development from eggs to adults. Radiated energy of this eha.racter will effectively penetrate dielectric-materials without impairment and induce lethal temperature in animal life which may exist therein. He emphasises the real need for just such an agency, “as it is generally recognised that more effective means than those now available are necessary to reach and kill the eggs, larva-e and pupae which may be concealed within the hose material.”