Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-02-24
EMBEDDING Of RAD|UM
+, SUGGESTED BY DR.. BELL
Claimed That Washington Scientist
First Recommended It as
Cancer Cure.
Letter Written in September, 1908,
to DR.. Sewers Anticipates Ap-
d plication of Remedy.

Washington physicians are wondering
IL DR.. Alexander Graham Bell. the in
ventor of the telephone and former p-esi-
dent OF the National Geographic Society,
was not the first person to suggest the
Embedding OF radium in bodily tissue az
curative agent for deep-seated cancers.
They have discovered a copy of Science
OF July 81, 1903, irf which is printed let
ter written BY Dr. Bell to DR.. H. T.
Sewers of Washington. dated July ~
1905, which they believe to contain tie
first suggestion for the applIca ton OF
radiuin in the way that Tie most recent
experiments in the wogla's scientific cen
tiers have proved most beneficial. The
letter also appeared in the Scientific
American Of Septelnber l.. 1906.
DR.. Bells Letter.
The le,te- written ii Eaddech. y. S.
nearly eleven years ago. follows:
Dear DR.. Sewers:
Il understand from you that the Raeat-
sen N-rays and the rays emitted by radl-
UNI have been found to have Il marked
curative effect upon external cancers but
that the effects upon deep-seated cancers
have thus far proved unsatisfactory. 1t
has occurred to me that one reason for
the unsatisfactory nature of these lat
ter experiments arises from the fact that
the rays have been applied externally
thus having to pass through healthy It's
sues of various depths in order to reach
the cancerous matter,
The Crooks tube, from which the
Roentgen rays are emitted. is, of course,
too bulky to be admitted into the mid
ole of the mass OF cancer, but there is
no reason why q tiny fragment OF
radium sealed up in a fine glass tube
should not be inserted into the very
heart Of the cancer, thus acting direct
ly upon the diseased material. Would
it not be worth while making expert
ments along this line?"
Reply by DR.. Sewers.
Dr. Sewers replied as follows
Dear Mr.. Bell:
'"The suggestion which you make in
regard to the application of the radium
rays to the substance OF deep-seated
cancer I regard as very valuable. If
such experiments should be made. have
no doubt they would prove successful in
many cases where we now have fail
ures."
When the letters were called to the
attention Of DR.. Bell by physicians here
recently he modestiy declined to claim
that his was the first suggestion. He
added. however that should an investi- ;
cation prove this to be the case nothing |
would please him more.
While medical men here have not made |
IN exhaustive search to find if DR.. Bell |
was the originator of the Embedding in |
tissue idea, they believe that actual
work along this line did not occur until !
three or four years later They cite an
article, written by DR.. William H. DEF |
fenbach of New York, in the Medical Rec |
ord of December /, 1919, in which the ]
early steps in the employment Of radium /
as curative agent are described.
Speaks of Radium Injection.
Dr. ,Dieffenbach tells of securing tube |
Of radium bromide of 100000 activity In !
1902 and of additions being made to this |
amount later. In 1905. he says. solutions |
Of 5000 activity of ratium were dis |
solved in gelatine, the object being to |
use an animal product as a vehicle for |
disseminating radium within tissues by |
means of injections. The physician, one |
Of the pioneers in this line, fails to state |
exactly when the actual Embedding of the |
radium itself first took place.
While they have not been able to find |
exact data on the subject, physicians in |
the office of the surgeon general of the |
War Department are of the opinion that |
DR.. Bells suggestion was the first of it's |
kind to be made.