New-York tribune., 1903-04-19
-RADlUN


critics so mysteriOUsIy stored IN apparentIy m
finite quantities i'm this extraordinary metal
Radium. moreover. has startling effects Uue,
the nervous centres Of human beings and Hvfn,
animals glass tube containing one or tvo
niIIigrams Of radum when carried IN Ia
waistcoat pocket causes a painful wound in ths
flesh that will require SIX months 10 heaL A
glass tube containing a few milligrams %
radium when introduced beneath the skin % a
mouse near the vertebraI column produced death
by paralysis in three hours. Tubes Of radiunn
placed in contact with the back Of the necks Of
guinea pigs kill or paralyze the animals In a
few hours. according 10 the length ~ exposure
to it's fatal radiations. VI. Cu-ie says that deash
to man would probably ensue upon entering a
room containing a pound os radiuu- Haeiura is
indeed, an unknown quantity. Each wees
brings to light startling additions 70 its mys-
terious properties which, as far as is Get known,
emanate and originate in itself. and cause SCI
entists to ask the question. Can it be possible
that Professor and Nine. Curie have U radium
discovered perpetual notion
Professor Pierre Curie. whom i- has been NJ
good fortune to meet on several occasions. both
at his little cottage near GENTLY. and u the
Laboratories Of the SOrbOnne Wh here ne works. Is
a man Of impressive individuality. There IS
irresistible fascination in he soft bat pene-
tratfng glance o. his large hazel eyes. which
seem to emit rays OF intelligence akin 20 those
Of the mysterious metal which he and his tai
ented wife have discovered NJ Clrie is forty
years old, tail and well formed He dresses
with the artistic negligence that is often char
acteristic Of men OF genius. His beard and hair
are iuxuriant, and his placid expression Of
beatitude. together with the pure antique lines
of his head and face, suggest the portraits of
Christ as depicted in the paintings q Albert
Diirer Professor Curie disdains Voridiy mat
ters and lives high up in the clouds. -apt Il
the neories of his mystic radium-
He and his wife are by no means -- fluent
circumstances. They live in small .0-tags
with a green lawn and fruit trees in the most
inaccessible southern district OF Paris. cVer-
looking The fortitfcations far away from the
Latin Quarter, and also a long distance from
the intellectual and fashionable centres ef the
capital Professor Curie is an early riser. 1t
o'clock in the morning, after having given his
little daughter a lesson in Arithmetic, h= jumps
on his bicycle and pedals briskly three miles 70
the laboratory of the SoTbonEe. IN the Rue
Cuvier. near the Jardin des Plant-s. or % the
laboratory of the EcoIe de Physique u tae Rue
Thonand behind the Pantheon II VAS .a re
latter laboratory that Professor Curi- held BE-
fore me a small glass test tube containing a
grayish white powder resembling table salt and
said You see this Is radium-- The professor,
o illustrate the fact that carrying radiUu abOut
produces flesh burns or wounds. good uarIredy
barred his left arm and showed me deep wound
that had been four months healing
The professor is extremely fond of his IrJe
cottage with lawn and fruit trees and Ei-.heG
garden. II was in his little garden that be- r.
ceived me last Sunday. and presented ue to MS