RADIO-THOR.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9536, 7 May 1909, Page 2

RADIO-THOR.

♦ : ' ■■ A RIVAL TO RADIUM. The American newspapers are devotr ing a great amount of space to an alleged discovery by Dr.Skillman Bailey, of -the Hahnemann Medical College; Chicago. In an address to the Medical Congress assembled at New Orleans, m Bailey stated that he had discovered a substance which, was described as like, radium, but less harmful and expensive, and called radio-thor, or thor-rad-jr. The substance is so powerful as «, therapeutic agent as to' suggest a evolution in the practice of surgery. This material was obtained from pitchblende found in Colorado.- It possessed, said Dr Bailey, all the curative properties of radium, and none of its baneful after-effects. It is also within the reach of persons of moderate means, and the supply is apparently limitless. Dr Bailey had secured the most successful results with thor-rad-x in the great relief, and, as he believed, the permanent cure of locomotor ataxy. With it he can photograph objects through six inches of wood. He showed a glass tube containing some of #ie material, and said that when placed in contact with the negative pole of a magnet it became luminous. NERVE-SHAKING EXPERIMENTS. Dr Bailey exhibited several photographs showing the results of his most recent experiments, and distributed amongst the practitioners present some radio-thor, which had the appearance of a partially fused < metal, and gave out a phosphorescent glow. Dr Bailey also exhibited a small phial, in which a liquid extracted from the mineral had been placed. He said that this liquid would colour common glass like Bohemian glass, and was of immense value financially. Mr Tiffany, of New York, he declared, spent/ £20,000 a year to obtain uranium for colouring glass and art wares. He exhibited grains of powder in a bottle, and said he could attach it to a battery, and the tube would glow with a bright light. Further, Dr Bailey stated that hfe . experiments made nim quite nervous, and he gave visible signs of being unstrung. '■■'.•' • A physician present said it was the duty of the faculty to try to evolve something for the prevention of this nervousness if they used thor-rad-x in their .practice. The consensus of opinion at the convention was that Dr Bailey had made out a strong case in support of his claim that he had discovered a positive remedy for locomotor ataxia, cancer and other maladies that have long baffled the medical profession. Dr Blackmarr, of Chicago, who has been associated with Dr Bailey in laboratory experiments,- declared that the discovery is- of such great importance to humanity and the medical world that he hesitated to express himself adequately lest he: should seem to be going beyond the mark.- "The discovery," he said, "is not to be "made the means of fortuno-sSeking. There is not a doubt that thor-rad-x possesses every quality and all the curative virtues of radium. It will be sold to surgeons, physicians and even laymen, through a central agency in Chicago, and the cost will be merely sufficient to 'defray the expense involved in its manufacture. . * " :\ m JJLIXIR OF LIFE. "It is idle to attempt an enumeration of the ailments that radio-active applications will cure," said Dr Blackmarr. "In fact, what we really wonder is whether anything exists that it will not cure once we have thoroughly mastered the handling of it/ I should not like to -suggest that we have at last found a means for the indefinite prolongation . of human life by arresting the processes of decay, yet it is a fact that the experiments we have made indicate .extraordinary power in the new agent to prolong life. Several months ago I took two boxes of chrysalides. One of the boxes I subjected to thor-rad-x exposure, the other was not exposed. I did this to-demon-strate my theory, now a recognised fact, that emanations of thor-rad-x were preventive of tissue degeneration. The result was' astounding. These moths in the unexposed box developed as usual, liyed their natural term of life, and died. Those iexposed lived three times as long as the others. "In 'perhaps a more remarkable instance I treated a Chicago man who is very prominently known for tubercular pleurisy. The disease was in an advanced stage. I injected thor-rad-x in solution. After three injections the 'man was cured. He has married well, and there has. been no return of the tubercular condition. We .found that the waters of most of the principal foreign springs to which people flock for treatment are • radio-active, which explains their, curative quality. Marienoad is an instance. If we succeed in discovering how to maintain the radioactive principle in solution, so that •the solution does not lose its value with time, we shall have come very close to the knowledge of how to fight off death indefinitely. The use of injections to arrest senility, to regenerate and rejuvenate- the aged, to re-es-tablish the balance in disordered functions, will certainly come as. we familiarise'ourselves with the use of the new product." " ■