The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-12-27

C!5cONeIleS new properties OF tDlS WOH-
derful substance. Sir William Ramsay re-
Gently startled the scientific world by an
nourcing that he had found that radiufn
gradually changes into n gas, one of the
rare gases OF the atmosphere of the earth
and the sun. This gas is called heliun,
from the Greek word 'helios," meaning
sun, since its presence in the earth's at
mosphere went unsupported until the spec
troscope showed its existence in the sun.
SAYS RADIUM CHANGES TO HELIUM
Sir William Ramsay placed some radium
in small tube. in the ends Of which wires
were sealed. The tube was then exhausted
of air and after a time an electrical cur
rent passed through the tube excited a
glow that could come only from helium
This was proven conclusively with the
spectroscope, but no answer was given as
to where the helium came from. Sir VIII
liam contends that the radium emanations
changed into heiium. or that after the
light-giving .corpuscle' had been thrown
off by the radium there remained helium.
Other scientists say that this is not the
only possible solution, but that as helium
can be pumped out of pitchblende Uhe
mineral from which radium is eStracted),
there is every reason to suppose that the
helfum was present in the radium all the
time. held mechanically. and that Sir Will
liam's experiment was merely pumping 1t
out.
II Sir Williams explanation Of the phe-
nomenon is true, the dream of the al
chemist that one element can change into
another is true. and IL radium changes in
to helium there is no reason why lead
may not be changed into gold. Sir VIII
liam does not say that the helium could
not be in radium. but his most positive
statement is that 1t Is highly improbable
that this gas could have remained In the
went through during its extraction from
pitchblende.
REPRESENTS EIGHT AND ONE-HALF
TONS OF PITCHRLENDD
In this connection it may be mentioned
that the fifteen-grain sample in possession
of Doctor Brokaw represents the final
product of eight and one-half tons of pitch
blende. 1t is as though one were to take
a carload of coal and condense 1t into 4
lead pencil, and the value of the raw ma
terial is as nothing to the labors of the
scientists in extracting the radium from
the mineral that hela it. There Is Just
about as much radium in a ton of pitch
blende as there is gold in a ton OF sea-
water.
What, then, gives this substance its
value aside from the scientific experiments
that may be performed with II? Why dc
physicians send emiSsarieS to France To
try to buy. borrow or steal 1t from the
discoveries If it is of no use and IS a
positive danger to those who have 1t In
their possession?
RADIUM WILL CURE CANCER.
The answer in q word is: BY this sub
stance alone can cancer be cured, and as
! cancer of the internal parts of the body
spares neither rich nor poor, any cure for
it is of inestimable value to mankind. For
hundred years physicians have been
searching for some substance that Will
cure these growths that feed upon the
tissues of the body till death gives reilet,
but have found none. Serums have been
discovered, tried and discarded. and even
the XIray. that has worked wonders II,
many cases of external cancer. has
proven of no avail in the treatment OF
growths on the interior of the body. Even
with the use Of X-ray tubes of special
construction little can be done with them
even to check the progress Of this dread
disease
It has been found, however. that when
a cancer Is exposed to the light of the
radium salt a gradual disappearance OIL
the growth takes place and the tissue az
have been reported in the medical Journals
of Germany and France where deep-seat-
ed cancers have been entirely eradicated
from patients who had resigned them
selves to certain death.
WILL NOT STATE RESULTS.
No such decisive results have been
reached through the use of the St. Louis
sample of radiuIn. as far as could be
learned. for Doctor Brokaw refused abso-
lutely to say anything in regard to. the
the results of his work with the sample In
his possession. He referred, however. 10
a lecture which he delivered before the ST.
Louis Medical Society. which is here quot
ed In part from the St. Louis Medical
Review, in which 1t was recently pub
lished:
seem to be. broad one, and its use Is
indicated where the X-rays have been of
service. am hopeful of even far better
results being obtained with radium. as Its
sphere of influence probably extends more
deeply. 1 am using 1t In case of cancer
of the tongue (the patient is -presenp, in
inoperable cases of cancer. of the uterus
Radium is especially indicated in super
fetal skin cancer. lupus and tubercular
LESSONS, particularly of the mouth and
pharynx wherever accessible.
''At this moment II is not my purpose
to report specific cases where the use OF
radium has been invoked. for the cases
treated have been subjected to the treat
future a report of the progress made will
be given, showing results of the treat
ment in a series of cases. At this writing
I can state that decided changes and re-
actions have been noted in some of the
cases treated. The case of carcinoma OF
the tongue presented tonight shows ma
terial Improvement. The treatment re-
action after radium rad .yions is sudden
and wide in extent. In treatment of le-
sions in mucous surfaces acute. violent
oedema results and is to be avoided only
by exercising the utmost care.
CAUSED PARESIs IN A MOUSSE
Laboratory experiments nave demon
strated a destructive affinity of radium
for the cerebro-spinal nervous system. A
few milligrams of radium placed under the
skin and over the vertebrate of mouse
causes death of the little animal in a few
hours from paralysis. When the Uranium
of small animals is exposed for a time to
radium a paresis develops, ataxio symp-
toms are present later on. followed by con-
WILSON'S and DEATH
As to the phenomenon known as radio
activity" Doctor Brokaw quotes in his
lecture the following:
"Radium is perpetual motion within itself:
the 10000 ions composing an atom of ra-
dunn are ever in Juror of vibration or
revolution in an orbit constantly flying
from the atom into ether. similarly as
meteors leave the solar system This
active dissertation of intraatomical units
is termed radio-activity."
The care necessary in handling the
radium Is shown by the manner in which
1t is used in Doctor Brokaw's Office. When
ever 1t is taken out of the metal box in