New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-09-26
WHAT ARE R4DIOBESY

/ The curiosity excited by John Butler Burke's
/ amour cement last June that he had discovered
! what he believed to be living bodies which re-
! suited from the action of radium on inanimate
material is still keen. 1t has been kept alive
| by the occasional appearance of articles from
his pen in leading periodicals on both sides Of
the Atlantic. two Of the latest having been
printed in 'Rarper's Weekly and The Fort
nightly Review" Interesting these contr-
buttons are, they supply few new details and
do not perceptibly strengthen the original ar
/ C1Iment. Perhaps their chief significance lies
in the evidence they furnish that at the time
when they were prepared their author had not
vet seen any reason to modify his first inter-
probation of the observed facts. Another ex-
PLANTATION of them has been cautiously and
| courteOusly suggested, however, by Sir William
Ramsay in the pages of The Independent"
| This distinguished scientific man is not Il biolo
| gst any more than Professor Burke is. but he
is older than the Cambridge experimenter, and
has had more intimate acquaintance with the
effects produced by radum. While the theory
which he offers tentatively may not prove cor
| rect it deserves the most careful attention
Sir William says that it has been noticed
! that the gaseous emanation given off when
! radium decomposes coagulates albumen. very
| much as boiling does. In the culture medium
| of the psychologists used by Professor Burke
| there is Jelly, and hence albuminOus material
! Sir William conceives that when the powdered
! radium salt dissolves in the fluid gas would be
evolved slowly. Bubbles might then be formed
! perhaps too small at first to be detected with a
microscope, but becoming larger as the guam
tity of inclosed emanation increased Though
! the walls, composed Of toughened albumen
would probably Withstand an enhanced pressure
| for a time it is conceivable that at length one
| or more holes might develop in them. The es-
| cape Of the gas through these might well cause
! the formation of attached bubbles or buds. 1t
will be remembered that the chief reasons
! which Professor Burke gives for suspecting that
/ his "radiobes" are alive is that they increase
in size and subdivide. If Sir William Ram
say has bit upon the uue cause of the phe
nomena the latter are purely mechanical and
merely initiate growth and reproduction.
| Until Professor Burke has had a chance to
! ascertain wherein this suggestion is inadequate
! IT will not do to accept 1t final. Still, The
! Fortnightly Review" article contains remark
that seems 10 confirm the correctness of the
| surmse 1t is asserted that experiments were
! made in two ways. Sometimes the radium was
confined in a separate tube and placed beside
that which held the culture medium, and some
times it was sprinkled on the latter Professor
Rurke adds that in those tests which may be
| ..regarded reliable actual contact seemed TO be
/ necessary"
Entirely aside from the explanation advanced
nv Sir william Ramsay-which certainly com
nends itself strongly 10 independent Judgment
there are several reasons for suspecting that
there was a fallacy in Professor Burke's rea-
sonInc One is that hitherto no living organism
has heen noticed which entirely soluble
Another is that the influence Of radum has APP
parently been pernicious, not TO say fatal to
life rather than stimulating or helpful But II
| the Cambridge Investigators supposition should