Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1901-04-12
RADIUM for LIGHTING
A MAGIC LAMP THAT WILL NEV-
Err GO OUT.

Radium Emits Both the Solar Ray Of Ordi-
uary Daylight and the Mysterious X-Ray-
1t Costs $1,000 an Ounce. but the Earth's
Supply of Uranium. From Which It Is Ex.
tracted, Is Believed to Be Sufficient to Make
it So Plentiful as to Adapt it for Use as an
IlIuminant - It Will Shine on Forever-lt
Cannot Set Things Afire and Transforms
Oxygen Into Ozone. Making the Atmosphere
heaIthful.
That the alchemist's dream of a
magic lamp which never goes out will
shortly be realized is indicated by
some remarkable experiments recently
made by Washington scientists, says a
writer in the Chicago Tribune.
Some months ago, Secretary Lang
ley of the Smithsonian Institution re-
ceived from Europe a mysterious little
box which he took to the dark room Of
his astro-physical observatory, and
there opened in the presence OF several
savants invited to inspect the valuable
contents. The removal of the lid re-
vealed two small cylinders of straw
board aglow from what appeared to
be fire, hidden within. Inside these
wrappings we're discovered two her
metically sealed vials-about the size
of a mans little finger-from which
issued an unceasing greenish-white
light, which gave the surroundings a
peculiar glow, like that from X-rays.
These vials had remained hidden from
light at least two months before they
had been opened. Brought to the
light, one was seen to contain a white
starch-likc powder, finely pulverized; ;
the other a similar substance, broken
up into little cubes about a tenth OF
an inch in dimension. Returned to
the darkness both bottles continued
to glow sufficiently bright for page,
held nearby, to be easily read thereby.
Yet the glass OF the containing bottles
was cold.
The precious substance was Grad
inm," a mineral lately discovered by
Nine. Sklolowska Curie, Polish
chemist studying in Paris. Nine.
Curie found radium to be contained,
at supposed impurity, in the salts OF
another mineral known as uranium
Chemists have thrown it away for
years, never dreaming that it was des
tined to become one of the most valu-
able minerals known to science.
Radium, with its mysterious source
OF light, emits two distinct sets Of rays,
one like those of ordinary daylight,
the other like X-rays. Just as she
stored in the loadstone all the COM
plicated mechanism of the electro
magnet, nature has compacted into
this earth.born material q raw substi-
stitute for the intricate Crookes tube
and its inquisitive flame.
T. w. Smillie, in charge OF the
Smithsonisn's Photographic depart
ment, was given for examination the
two vials of radium, each containing
about dram of the powder. He took
them to his darkroom and there made
series of interesting experiments
Herewith. He first placed one of the
glowing walls in front of a covered
plate-holder, such as is used in an Or
dinary camera. Inside the holder was
Q sensitive plate, just as used for max.
ing photographs. The slide covering
the plate was drawn out half inch at
time, at intervals of q minute, for
five minutes. When the plate was de.
veloped it showed five stripes of differ
ent colors, proving that the strips Of
exposed plate subjected longest to the
light had been most affected thereby,
and rice versa. Thus was proven that
the radium light has the effect of sun.
light upon q Photographic negative.
That radium has X-ray powers was
next corroborated by placing one Of
the little tubes two and q half inches
from plate-holder whose closed slide
was covered by X-ray proof tin foil cut
in an open-work design. After an
hours exposure, during all of which
time the slide of the holder had re.
mained closed, the plate was taken
out. When it was developed it dis
tinctly showed the outlines of the tin.
foil, which had been photographed
through the cover of the plate-holder.
Then the X.ray negative was printed.
Upon the paper used in this operation
was seen the tin-foil, in black, the
the openings cut in it in white, just
as in usual X.ray print. Had Mr..
Smillie had sufficient radium he could
have made an X.ray print showing
the bones of his hand and similar ef-
fects customarily produced with the
Crookes tube and electric current.
To prove that radium has the suns
power of printing photographs the ex-
perimenter next took one of these mi
mute tubes and with its light made a
number of sharp prints from ordinary
negatives upon bromide paper. Had
he had an ounce rather than dram
of the powder he could have directly
photographed faces or objects in its
surrounding light.
Radium costs 81 900 an ounce. Its
great expense is due to its present
scarcity. As soon as chemists learn
how to extract it readily it will grow