The Cairo bulletin., 1914-05-27
RAD|UM As CURATIVE
Iona Known to Possess Great
Remedial Powers.
English scientis: Says South Amerl-
can Natives Heard Of IL Many Years
ACCUSED. in many Gases.
TO Heal Wounds.

Ago-Oscds IN many Eases,
TO Heal Wounds.
London.-An English scientist. 7.
| Thorue Baker. has just published some
Interesting data regarding radium and
its curative effects.
Radium, says Nj Baker. has been
. thing u extreme fascination TO the
scientist. while the general public have
regarded it with mild curiosity. But
its recent effects In the treatment Of
cancer have made it a thing Of alb
soroing interest to the whole world.
There are various sources for OBJ
tanning radium. for it occurs always
in fixed proportion with the metal
uranium. Wherever We fad uranium
We are sure to find the onethree-mil
liOnth part of radiUm with it, Pitch.
blende is the richest mineral. but Ger.
tain other substances, as autunite. tor
benite and carnOtite, contain small
quantities of uranium, and il is from
these three poorer minerals that the
+utNAt supply VI iduiuiu WIN H'Ag
largely come unless. of course, unfore-
seen fresh supplies of pitchblende are
discovered.
The chemist finds himself with one
ton OF ore. and he knows by measure
ment with delicate instruments that il
contains about ten milligrams, or less
than the sixth part of grain, of ra-
dunn! Imagine trying To extract a
solid rock! But modern chemistry to
which the name of radioChemistry has
now been given, has enabled this prob
lem to be solved with such complete
success that by the most recent meth
DDS hardly any of this single grain is
lost during the tedious and long proc.
eSs OF extraction.
The result is that some months later
nearly the whole OF the priceless grain
Of radlum is extracted in an almost
pure state, and its purity can be meas
ured against a special standard sample
prepared by Nine Curie, which is kept
jealousy guarded at the international
bureau of weights and measures al
Sevres, near Paris. This standard
sample of pure radium chloride con
tains nearly twenty-five milligrams
sealed up in Il thin glass tube, and
three other international standards
are kept at the Academy of Science in
Vienna
1t is quite a common thing when
buying a large quantity of radium-by
this Is meant a grain or two-to buy
it on condition that its purity be first
tested against one or other of the in
ternatiunal standard specimens.
Radium water is being largely tried
now in the treatment not OILY OF can
Ger. but of various rheumatic and
equity troubles, and this water con
gists of ordinary water charged with
the gas given off by radium and known
us "emanatiou" If some radium salt
be dissolved in water and left in q
sealed vessel In about a month the
'emanation" gas which it produces
reaches a state of equilibrium and i'll
can be expelled by boiling and passed
into water, which then possesses radio
active qualities. This "emanation wa
ter" only retains its activity for a
short time. and in less than four days
has become impoverished to less than
half its original value.
AT the radium institute two lots OF
radium are kept continually in use for
making the water and while one is
resting. so to speak, for its month, the
other has produced enough water 10 go
on with for this month. One way
of overcoming the difficulty of the les
SEEMING effects is to increase the dose
day by day, so that II you were to
start today taking doses of "A table
spoonful on the fourth day you would
take two tablespoonfuls, and so on
But after the fourth day the radio
activity diminishe5 SO rapidly that the
water is of little more use and fresh
must be secured
This Is the reason that spring wa
tiers, which may give beneficial results
on account of containing radio-activity,
must be drunk at the spring, for II
bottled and drunk perhaps weeks aft
arward the radioactive properties
have vanished.
Many years ago the natives in some
South American district used to cover
their wounds with dust which they got
In the neighborhood made with water
into n kind Of pouitice. and recently It
was discovered that there was radium
in the locality, so that years ago quite
ignoranuy. the curative effects OF ra.
dunn were already being employed.
The residues obtained after all the
Tadium has been extracted still con,
tain minute traces of rado-aCtiyitv
and are used a good deal on the con.
tinent for qlasters and baths. one of
the uses to which they are most likely
to be put, however in the future is
the acceleration of the growth Of
CrOns ThOTnp Rakpr described ra-