The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-12-24

Wasting Radiizn.

some types Of cancer and a..
tumors. and TO fail absolutely v;,,
others. 1t has proved almost inv.
iably successful - q means - :.
moving birthmarks and sosts.;..
hardened SCARS left by the hsal,n,
Of wounds. Yet in the face a. -
disputable cures, doctors Still + a. !.
agree regarding the curative vi.
OF the metal. One skepties, ~
stefan who scoifed at the ia :
radium having any power, allc.s.
himself to be treated with 4 -.
cancer. After ~ hours he adms,...
that it did have some potent nrcass
ties. for it had nauseated HIN +.
tremely. y
Nausea II the main imm.s,..
reaction upon the patient Tr~s
ment Is not usually Accompanies 4.
much pain, and the ultimate efIsrt
to lessen suffering. Seriousness :
burns from raiium have been ov.s
emphasized in the opinion Of ~.
expere here who prefers not to 3
quoted. He explained that constr
handling Of radium by doctors -.
nurses occasionally causes tina N
gers to become tender and rl..sd
and in come diseases in order s
obtain sufficient intensity al ~.
rays. it is inevitable that the
should be burning Of the tissns.
But these are not frequent occns
FENCES IN the use OF radium 4.
deed, radium is used to heal burn.
from X-rays.
Radium's most conspicuous n,
vice to humanity 50 far has been :,
a treatment for several types Of can
Ger. 1t does not always cure eve,
those forms which respond +
treatment. But where it only r.
lieves suffering and removes n,
terrible odor which 60 often acorn
panies cancer, it is a remedy of in
estimable value.
As for the future OF the eupnlv
,; the United States geological sur
vey says that no one knows exacth
how long the United States vii
continue to be the main producer 4
radium, or how much the cart
holds. Our carnotite mines in UtaI
and Colorado yield nine-tenths 8
the worlds radium. and the amour
isolated from the product Of thes
mines is slightly increasing escl
year.
There are smaller radium produe
ing mines in Bohemia, Portugal
southern Australia, Afghanistan
and Cornwall. England. Most o
these countries produce about {,
gram or so a year, while the Unite
States is producing about twsnr
grams.
Originally, radium was isolata
by Madame Curie from pitchblends
and for a time pitchblende va
sought as the source OF supply. Bu
there was comparatively it'll
pitchblende to be found and mon
most Of the radium made is derive!
from carnotita. This is a bright
canary yellow metal, which occur
in soft sandstone, nearly alwaN
with fossil woods and often viii
the fossil bones of long extinct All
mails. At first it was found only q
the surface and on the edges d
cliffs, witch led to the belief that I
did not exist under the rocks. Bud
lately some experimental drilling
revealed carnotite as far as 60 I'd
below the surface, 30 that the n
sources for producing radium ma
be far CRATER than has been sup
1posed.
i Producing radium is q prosai1
exacting task. The carnotite I
mined laboriously and in enormDW
quantities, for, as one firm puts /
it takes q dozen carloads Of ore 4
yield a thimbleful OF radium N
deposits in our west often occur b
desert land 60 miles from . nd
road and half q dozen miles fro
water supplies. The strings Of bur
ros, that bridge the desert milo
laden with water and supplies n
the one picturesque touch aboat |
radium mine