El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-11-29

: more. and at the Memorial hospital, in
/ New York city. At the head Of the en-
terprise is Howard A Kelly OF Balt-
( more
Ton Yields Small Particle.
Inasmuch as q ton of carnOtite will
yield a lump Of radium hardly larger
than a pin head, chemical methods Of
utmost delicacy must be employed In
extracting the substance. Experience
has shown that the best way to test the
ore, to determine its radium content, Is
to wrap, in the dark, a Photographic
plate in two thicknesses OF black paper,
then to lay upon the paper key, and
inst above the latter to suspend q piece
Of ore weighing two or three ounces
the whole being thereupon placed in a
light tig-nt box. After three or four
days the plate is developed and If the
ore contains any radium an image OF
the key viii be found on the plate.
There seems to be no question OF the
fact that radium affords an effective
means OF dealing with certainS forms
Of cancer, especially when the latter is
internal. While producing little change
is healthy cuticle, 1t attacks and de-
strOys the cancer cells. For one in
stance, on April 1, Of the present year,
a cancer was removed form the liver
Of a man nearly 20 years Of age at the
Methodist hospital in Philadelphia. his
case had been deemed hopeless, but
since then he has been getting well
quite rapidly.
For such purposes "exposures' Of "A
to 120 hours are made, the radium rays
being filtered (for a reason presently
to be mentioned) through q thin sheet
OF lead. But, whereas, the concentrate
ed action Of the rays from some hun
dreds Of milligrams of the substance
has a destructive effect upon cancer
and other malignant groWths, smaller
quantities (as shown by many expert
ments) may have no beneficial effect.
It IS obvious, then, that Tadium should
j. l. 49,
for medical use, yet 1t is doubtful If at
the present time there is in the hands
of the medical profession in this coun
try more than a single gram Of this
rare element
If radium possessed no practical use
fitness, il would nevertheless be Of
enormous interest to science. It comes
nearer to being a miracle than any
thing else we know Of in nature. A
substance that actually contains a force
(such a phenomenon having hitherto
been deemed an impOSSibility), a single
gram Of il, If its power were properly
applied, might drive an automobile
around the world Indeed it might
continue to drive the automobile for
ever, apparently ,inasnuch as the force
it gives out does not seem to undergo
any perceptible diminution with time.
Here we have a suggestion Of another
impossibility in physic, namely, per
petuaI motion
Gives Three Kinds Of Rays.
Radium gives out three kinds Of rays
alpha" rays, beta" rays, and gam
ma" rays. The alpha rays may be shut
off by paper or glass. Both the alpha
and beta rays may be shut off by a
sheet OF lead only one-five-hundredth
Of an inch thick But the gamma rays
viii pass through inches of iron or
other metal with scarce any Interrupt
ton, the extent Of their penetrating
power depending upon the quantity of
radium used. It is the gamma rays
filter out in the manner described
that are used in treating cancer.
What are these gamma rays2 The
answer Is that nobody knows Nobody
knows exactly what radium is; It is q
mystery, and the source Of the force It
contains is wholly unknown Appar-
emily the gamma rays are somewhat
ike X-rays; but they differ, especially
in penetrating power. The X-rays in
a Crookes tube become luminous So
likewise do the gamma rays emitted
by radium when they impinge upon the
mineral Hwiilemite,' which is a silicate
OF zinc.
Finely powdered wplemite when