The sun., 1903-09-13


radium." said Thomas A. Edison, at his
shops in West Orange, N. D.. the other day.
y really don't
When Mr. Edison said this what he
meant was that he hadn't gone far enough
into the properties of one OF the most pecu-
Jar substances that have yet come into
ha field Of science to satisfy his own exact
mind And there are many other scientists
Of renown who are quite willing to plead
similar ignorance.
One reason for this is that radium Is
dangerous Another Is that it costs q
great deal A third is that. comparatively
--eaking, it ia new. But the one great
reason why every investigator in the ro-
mantle field Of science wants to know some
thing about it is that radium has thrown
the first shadow Of doubt upon number
Of long accepted theories
What is radium? Well, to the eve Of the
amateur It would easily pass for a minute,
at least for an innocent, powder, less fiakish
than common -four and not at all unlike
salt Its appearance is as innocent as that
Of the tniest babe.
Unless there Is a great change from the
present order OF things it will never be
seen in any imposing Guantity-a thimble-
fn or possibly little more together. That's
all
Yet in this thimbleful there is death to
the inexperienced and a wonderful power
for those who WELD it with care-a power
that perhaps will cause tremendous
change in the work Of scientists. chemists.
electricians. surgeons, physicians and
others Why not, when, unless all accounts
are askew. girl who had been totally
blind for years was enabled to tell the
difference between light and darkness
after ono treatment with the powerful.
stimulating rays of pinch Of the stun?
BOILING DOWN OF RAD1rM.
Before an amateur can talk intelligently
with a scientist about radium and kindred
substances he must grasp the meaning of
radio-actvity That means ray activity
or ray power. To M Henri Becquerel
Of the French Institute is generally given
the credit for having started the real study
of radio-activity, although many other
scientists and practical electricians had
paved the way by their Investigations OF
the various phenomena that can be pro-
duced in and out of vacuum tubes
In 1895 NJ. Becquercl was conducting some
experiments with various phosphorescent
substances He exposed some salts Of
uranium to the sunlight until they became
phosphorescent, and then tried their effect
upon photograph plate.
1t rained, and he put the plate away in a
drawer for several days, When he took
it out he was surprised to find on it better
image than he had made by exposing the
plate TO sunlight. And thus, by sort Of
accident. he led up to the discovery of the
Becquerel rays, so-called.
Then followed other discoveries along
the same lines. Uranium is extracted
from a metal or ore called uranite by
mineralogists and popularity known as
pitchblende. Every young college student
who has got into geology and chemistry
very far has heard OF pitchblende.
Two years after Becquerels discovery
Of the radio-activity Of uranium Prof.
Pierre Curie and Nine, Curie Of Paris made
some experiments with uranium. They
soon made the discovery that some Of the
samples of pitchblende which they had
were much more powerful than any uranium
that they had found.
Was there something more powerful than
Uranium right inside the uranium? was
the question that was ut once suggested.
They began 70 boil down the uranium
rcsielues, so to speak, and got their answer
in the discovery Of new element to which
Nine. Curie gave the name polonium, after
her native land, Poland
Then they did some more boiling down
and succeeded in solating an entirely new
substance and the most radioactive vet
discovered -radum shortly after that,
Debierne discovered still another radio
active substance to which he gave the
name actinium,
That boiling-down process which pro-
d,ced radium meant some work, In the
first place. pitchblende isn't half so plentiful
as iron ore, which it closely resembles in
appearance. The best of it comes from
Bohemia, but il ia also found in Saxony,
Norway, Egypt and the United States
In this country it has teen found in
North Carolina. Colorado and Utah. The
richblende. which is mineral oxide,
is found in small humps in veins of gold,
silver and mica. Sometimes il Is dscov
cred in granite.
Comparatively speaking. it is easy 10
get the uranium Rut to get the radium
means much more, According to Prof.
Curie. II is necessary to refine about 5000
ton, Of uranium res idues to get kilo-
gramme-o or about ?,2 pounda- OF radium.
To refine one ton OF uranium res idues
meant an expense OF about 5000 year
or so ago. The price Of pound of radium
on that basis WAS only about $500, ,00o
The actual price however. is not quite
70 high now. The most recently quoted
price Of radium comes from the Soci@t6
cen'raIe Of Paris and is aOouf 5000 a
gram'ne. or something like s.. 2.72l $3.50
q pound. Prof j. j. Thomson has well
said that there is far more gold in sea
water than radium, poonium and actinium
In pitchblende,
TWO POWERFUL SAMPLES HERE
Prof Curie says that in three years all
the workers in France and Germany have
got together only about pound OF radium.
That estimate refers To all grades Of the
substance from the nearly pure to the
very inferior.
The reducing of uranium asidues by
chemical, or even spectroscopic, aDalyFi0 IL
lmpn,' ibo according to the experts, Tho
work II done by the far more sensitive
electrical method. The Curies have Lsen
quoted a. saying that the eectrica analysis
will detect a quantity Of radum so Email
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