Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-08-31
PUZZLES SCIENTISTS.
Strange Metal Called Polonium
Found by Woman.
Substance from which the New E1e-
ment Is Extracted Heretofore
Regarded as VaIucIess
Account of Discovery.

Polonium, the new element, which
was exploited in series Of most in
teresting experiments by Prof. w.
Maxwell before the chemical congress
in Berlin, is really the discovery of
woman-one Of the most learned
women In the world and one who is
to-day recognized as among the truly
great pioneers Of chemistry. Married
to a Frenchman. she is Pole by birth,
and it was patriotism that led her to
give to the new discovery the name
by which the world now knows it
Polonium, states the New York Herald.
Scientists as yet understand too lit
tie Of the marvellous properties of this
new element to venture more than
vague predictions of what spheres OF
future usefulness it may fill; but it is
not improbable that 1t may be found
to perform the present functions of the
so-called Roentgen or X-rays far more
powerfully and without the somewhat
cumbrous apparatus now essential to
their use.
In much higher degree even than
radium 1t possesses the property OF
shining in the dark and although it is
known that actual particles, indnites-
finally small are being shot out from
1t continually fact which Is proved
by magnetic experiments-thi strange
substance does not seem to exhaust
itself nor to lose its luminous powers
with the passage Of time Here,
therefore, is hint, at least, of the
future possibility Of constant and
brilliant illuminant generated without
heat or combustion
AS result OF the discovery Of this
brilliant Polish woman, Nine. Curie,
she and her husband and a few chosen
associates are enjoying at present a
practical monopoly of treasure mine
richer far than one Of gold or dia-
monds. Po1onium is more valuable
than radium, and Prof Curie himself,
who has chemically pure specimen
of radium not larger than a huckshot
and weighing less than half grain.
would not sell it for $40, 600 Strange
ly enough, the substance from which
these precious grains of polonium are
extracted is pitchblende, sort of by
product found in Austria and hereto
fore regarded as valueless after being
used for the extraction Of uranium.
It is from the cast off material of a
Bohemian mine operated by the Aus
trian government that Nine. Curie and
her husband are now obtaining their
rich store of polonium. But as they
were enterprising enough to obtain
control of all of it that was in sight
before others knew it's rare pos
sibilities, there is little polonium to
be had even in Europe except through
them, and practically none at all in
America.
Radium also is the discovery Of Nine.
Curie. What radium will do, she her
self believes, polonium will do to far
greater degree. If as DR.. Luden, a Ger
man scientist, Is reported to have said
in q Berlin cable dispatch recently.
he has proved by experiments that
rays reflected from radium enable the
blind to see more or less clearly, then
Yadium and polonium may yet be
destined to work veritable modern
miracles.
DR.. Luken says that two Russian
blind dogs, on whom he has expert
mented, have permanently regained
their sight through the use of these
rays. Startling as that statement
seems, Prof. G. w. Cann1t of Columbia
university. said in a recent paper in
the Scientific American:
Gone of the most striking properties
of radfum is its luminosity. The pure
Padium chogide emits enough light to
enable one to distinguish printed char
acters. The rays from radium excite
phosphorescence in many bodies, such
as zinc, su1phide. diamond and even
common salt. The luminosity of radi-
UNI is perhaps but the phosphor-
escence produced by its own rays. If
small quantity of radium is held
against the forehead while the eyes are
closed one will see light. The rays
penetrate to the retina and cause it to
phosphoresce."
In the same article Prof. kanalt
gives an interesting account of what
led up to the discoveries Of Mime.
Curie and her husband. He says:
eIn 1896 Prof. Henri Recquerel of the
Conservatoire des Aries ct Meters, at
RaTlS, QlSCOV0T0u Luc IGulO dLllvIIy VI
uranium. He found that all compounds
of uranium, as we'll as the metal itself,
continually emit radiations, which act
upon Photographic plates and have a
penetrating power similar to that of
the x-rays. Investigators Immediate
Iy experimental with various materi-
ais with the hope that they might find
other substances having the same prop
erty as uranium.
"Prof. Curie of the Ecale do Ply
siql1e ct de Chime Industr1elles, at
Paris, and Nine. Curie turned their at
tention to pitchblende, mineral which
consists largely of oxides of uranium.
They found that some samples Of this
mineral from Bohemia possessed
greater activity than either uranium
or thorium, the only substances then
known to be radioactive. This led
them to theconclusion that the activity
of tho pitchblende must be due to some
new element of great activity. In order