The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-07-19

ness is reasonable. 1t Is natural enoush'
i for the discovery threatens some CT the
most firmly established propositions OIL
science, including the cardinal one winch
asserts that energy must be begged, Dor
rowed or stolen, but cannot be createa' :
Notwithstanding so much has been saio
and written about radium. the iact Is
that radium itself has not yet been Cd
tained, What Is usually called radium
is one or another of It's compounds. These
arc prepared from the mineral pltch-
blende, and their preparation is task
of immense labor and expense. 1t is
stated that, so far, only about pound
of radium compounds, OF every grade
of purity, has been prepared the world
over, and that less than half a grain OF
| the pure material Is In existence. When
radium shall be Isolated 1t will be seen
to be a metal, In many respects like CAL
cium. the metal Of ordinary line
The ,lnscientifc person may get very
practical. and. indeed, a not very erro-
neous idea of radium by conceivlng IL
to be bit of the active sun substance
| llSell.s Lint ttllS Sui. ~
and gives out light, heat and electriclty'
and 1t photographs, and affects the hu-
man body with a peculiarly vicious klnd
OF sunburn. In addition, 1t exhibits the
phenomena now Familiarity known as
N-ray effects, which, though not yet
demonstrated to exist in the sunbeam,
are. like enough, hidden therein. And
1ty
outside help creating its own energy
ever burning. never consuming, ike the
SIM AS to the sun, we indeed have, for
explaining its incessant energies, cer-,
tain theories more or less satisfactory.
or, rather, unsatisfactory. but the cog
nate mystery of radium has SO far baf-
| fled all who have attempted the solution.
OF the several outlandish, almost magi-
cal, performances of radium. perhaps Its
feat OF burning without fuel and without
consuming itself is the one which IS
most readily apprehended by the popu-
lar mind 1t shows itself in this fashion:
A piece of radlum Is constantly nearly
three degrees hotter than the air ana
other objects in its vicinity, and by the
heat it gives out is capable of melting
more than its own weight of Ice each
hour; and this it will do apparently for
an indefinitely long time. as actively as
at first, without combustion and without
change of composition. How can 1t do
this? Wood and coal, when furnishing
heat. do so by combining with the oxygen
of the air. and at the same time waste
away, leaving n remnant OF ashes. we
see the ice in the neghborhood or the
radium melt, and we know whence 1t
obtains the heat that melts Tit is from
the radium; but whence the radium gets
its heat, or, if 1t manufactures heat In
ternally, what its process Is, this Is the
puzzle-and it is a puzzle of great per-
pexity. Whenever it Is solved, and the
principle which would be thereby revealed
can be practically applied, 1T can be
confidently promised that the question
What shall we do for coal?" which
even now we contemplate with some ap-
prehension, will no longer disturb us.
It has to be said. however, after all, that
the statements regarding the anarchic be-
havior of radium have been contradicted.
It has been recently asserted that radium
does consume appreciably, and that 1t
| obeys the law Of the conservation OF
energy There are but few who are quail
flied to pronounce authoritatively on this
subject, for there are but few who are In
| a position to pursue the necessary in
vestigations, and the rest of us must de-
pend on the skill and candor of these
experimenters. Naturally, conservative
men of science are unwilling to surren-
der what they have so laboriously worked
out and have hitherto convinced them
selves that they have established as
fundamental facts of science. Nor Will
they overlook the circumstance that, In
the attempt to make credible what are
| considered as adverse phenomena, there
has been employed not only much which
is mere theory, but that much Of this
theory itself has no better basis than
some other theory has supplied 1t with.
And they will be especially dstrustful
Of the dreams which highly gifted seers,
overcome by the fascinating but illusory,
electrical hypnosis. are prone to utter
forth as realities.
AS for those of us who are outside the
scientific pale, we are not to let our
wonder at the curious freaks of radium
beguie us unduly. The strange vista has
but just been opened and exploration of
it has only begun. There is much rea-
son for the supposiion that the proper
ties Of radum are not unique. but that
there are very many other substances
which share them, In a less degree per-
haps, or in some form indlscernible by
means now available For the present,
therefore, 1t seems Judicious that, while
we note with attentive interest what APP
pears to be revolutionary. we sedately
wait and see whether the revolution can
NIL g he'd