The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-05-24
TIE splENDoRs or RADIUM.

naiftee, William III. Rhodes, whose
pgeudonyrne was .Caxton. wrote a
powerful story. the point of which was
the end of the career Of conscience
stricken man. who carried in his pocket
bottle, containing a coIorless LIQUID,
few drops OF which were sufficiently
powerful to destroy the world.
Since the discovery OF radiun, it al
most seems as If this imaginary and
Eragical possibility had become true.
IT was first extracted from piteh-blende
b q French professor and his wife, NJ
and Madame curie. the latter a modern
woman. scientific. domestic and charm
ing, end it Is now principally supplied.
fortunately in minute quantities. from:
their laboratory IN Paris.
The most remarkable, indeed the
Characteristic, feature IN rafium.l Is its
extraordinary condensation, independ-
emily Of any exposure to light or heat,
of forces that are. at once Iife-support-
ing and destructive. Henry Beequerel
found that uranium and some other
metals gave off continuously rays ike
the x-rays of Professor Roentgen.
which penetrated opaque substances
and afrected photographic plates, These
we're called ..Beequerel rays and their
characteristic property was radioactive
sty, which was due to the radiuna and
polonium that uranium, for example,
contained, and which. in 1898, were
isolated and since then have been sub
3ected to countless experiments. Though |
lar more powerful Id its effects, radaurn
is kindred to the BlondIot N-ray.
Many conclusive evidences Of the
stores OF light and heat focused in this
substance have been furnished. DR..
Edwin Booth, instructor OF chemistry |
at the University OF California, was
very successful in his investigation. He
substituted rays Of radiurn for the RAYS |
of ne sun, in dark room. in a. 1rian-
ner that resulted ia demonstration. In
two Photographic plate boxes ne placed |
q key, pair of scissors and coin, |
wrapped IN Iight-proof paper. and over |
the boxes suspended tube, contaifdng
loo rnilligrans of radiurn or as much |
as could be put into the end Of a thin
BILE. The distance between the tube and |
the top of the boxes was half an inch,
and the rays had to pierce the Two COW
ers and the paper. After an exposure OF |
thirty-six hours. the key, the scissors
and the coin were distinctly reproduse led
and the plate was developed as though
It had been exposed to the sun.
Similar results have been accomplish
ed in many places Professor 4. E.
Crook. of the Northwestern University.
says that. without even extracting the
very small quantity of radium in it but
solely through its presence, photographs
can be taken by pitch blende. Its dis
4inctive capacity is illustrated by the
statement that, by its use, the entire
population of Paris could be killed
within a few hours or days. Sir Will
liam Ramsay, before the Royal Institu-
ton in London. referred to the ennis
sion by radium of heliun, supposed to
be the principal constituent of the suns
atmosphere. He stated that this ennis
sion was not direct, but that heavy
gas was sent forth, which slowly chang
ed to helium and then vanished, and
that the gas could be collected in TASKS.
but would disappear within a month
This he regarded as the same process
as change of gold into iron, and, he
claimed. in this way. the Inconsistency
of the elements had been proved, and
the problem of the transmutation of
metals, which after centuries of effort
had been abandoned, become affirma-
lively solved.
Radiun is a dynamo-energy without
fuel. If Immersed in ice or in the in
tense cold OF liquid air. it continues to
give out light and heat, and it is esti-
mated that this emission would last for
millions Of years. AS II. C. Porter, of
Elton College, has argued, analysis has
broken down the atomic theory. and
the new discovery tends in the direc-
ton OF the theory that there is one
basis of all matter, of which the ele-
ments are merely visible forms
In cancer, diabetes. diphtheria, con-
sumption and other diseases, the effect
of the use of radiun has been decided,
though not uniformly successful Pro-
lessor Frederick Kohlransch found
that 1t Increases the electric conduc-
tivity of water. which it also sterilizes.
and, by the communication OF radio-ac-
tivity. kills the germ OF diphtheria- |
Professor Gusenbauer of Austria, in
Instances of cancerous contraction of
the esophagus. ascertained that it could |
be used to enlarge the gullet, and thus
render ARTIFICIAL nourishment unneces-
sary. Professor Tarkhanov. OF ST.
Petersburg, in q lecture before the Mill |
tary Association of that city, disclosed