Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-12-24
Wasting Radium


valuable metal ~ cihDfitn ny sTWpt'NN
here. Every milligrarn of radiurnn IL jsalous-
~ boarded by the medical profession NJ
great power FOR healing. Yet large guam
tities ~ IL are annually introduced into
luminous paint 20 thnt wrist watches and
alarm clocks may be conveniently CON
suited in the dark.
re in trlie that, precious 81 rh0iurn -,
there IL only 10 or i cents worth ~ y on 4
the luminous dial If a watch, But when 4
thcusands If time pieces are rnhde lunl-
nous. the vnlue 81 The iridium consumed ~ /
estimated % reach not less than s1b,OCo !
3 year. This means about three grams ~ /
radiurn, which seems small amount, |
until YOU remember that there ~ less tflen |
half pound of the metal in the world ~ /
rroseuf and very little is added ehch year. {
The faTnentable feature 81 the luminous
dial business, where radiun is used, IL that
the precious metal IL permanently lost
The radiurn on the dial IL still potent long
after clock has succunhed 20 old age,
hit the amount Of the metal there " ~
iufinitssirnal that il would be impossible
n recover ~.
The point made IN this connection IL
that the radiun in wasted unnecessarily.
There in a metal similar b radium, known
a. resgfhoriurn, sbich IL equally e.
fcient in Illuminating watch faoes, and
which is the logical material ~ - en-
/ ployed for this purpose MesOthorlum -
| not a ncw material II vas discovered ~
| 1905. Tts cost IL only about half that -
| radium yet IL has never been widely used
! nv clock and instrument makers, though
/ there is presumably enough of u available
! Tho life If u1es0thorium is only about
/ seven years Al the end g this time, u
i the roat ch with luminous dial IS in work
irf cr ~ II is . small repair Job n have me
/ dial animated again, Or replaced
RadIurn, unlike mesothoriurn, loses ~
power 50 gradually that 10 may for prac-
/ tical purposes be regarded az retaining d
/ indefinitely. II il estimated that IN ,s1O
years. radunn lcses one-half is weight,
ard in 800 more years another half
Obviously a wrist watch Is not going 70
last long enough - be worthy q 20 aZnl"ss
a material.
RADrUx LATTE
The long life ~ radiurn il what makes 4
really practical for medical purposes i
il could be used but onre, or even few
times the cost ~ radium treatments
YOU'D be prohibitive But. because the
energy a radiurn Is undIninished by use
Il Il within The reach If rich and poor alike
where hospitals make use ~ II. u does
not matter whether il il kept in sunlight
OF in a hot or cold place None n these
conditions affect its strength
r. is shut M in leaden caskets n pre-
vent theft and az a protection 70 people
ard objects around IT, 50 powerful are the
forces ernanating from q few grain. q
radi,um that the Bureau ~ Standards
finds u necessary To enclose its supply
in lead case, and n place before that
lead screen. Until the screen was obtain
Cd the radium rays projected themselves
into the next room, and affected the deli
cate mechanism IF a number Of the bureaus
valuable instruments.
All the possibilities u radiurn have
probably not been exhausted. 10 new
uses have been discovered recently. Doc
tors who are Interested are constantly
making experiments.
Radlurn has been found 70 cure some
tvpes Of cancer and some tunors. and 70
fan absolutely with others II has proved
almost invariably successful az means OF
removing birthmarss and softenIng har-
; iened scars left BY the healing OF wounds.
Yet in the face Of lndisputable cures,
doctors still disagree regarding the cura-
tive value of the metal One skepscal
physician who scoffed az the idea Of
radIum having any power, allowed him
self 70 be treated with 10 Tor a cancer.
After "A hours he admitted that i dIu IL
deed have some potent properties, for i
: had nauseated him extremely.
Nausea IS the main immediate reaction
upon the patient Treatment IS not
usually accompanied BY much pain, and
the ultimate effect Is 70 lessen suffering
Seriousness Of burns from radium have
been over-emphaslzed n the opinion q
one expert here, who prefers not 70 bs
quoted He explained that constant
= handling 81 radiun by doctors ana nurses
occasionally causes the fingers 70 becoms
tender and glazed ana IN some diseases n
order TO obtain sufficient intensity OF ths
ravs, il is inevitable that there should b,
burning Of the tissues. But these are no
frequent occurrences IN the Use Of radIum
: Indeed, radlum is used 70 heal burns from
|, Mays,
! CURES SOME CANCERS.
: Ra5iuns most conspicuous service z
humanity 50 FAR has been as q treatmen
: for several types 81 cancer. Il does DO
always cure. even these forms which re-
spond 70 treatment But " here i only r.
: heves suffering aai removes the terribl
odor which So often accompanies cancer
= it's remedy Of inestlnable value.
1 As for he future Of the supply, th'
: United States Geological Survey says tina
/ no one knows exactly how long the Unite,
sNkElES " IA Et3A-t4A-AAN " x tAAS AAAtAAA4
? Queer Of radiurn, OF how much the cart
/, holds. Our carnotite mines IN Utah sn'
4 Colorado WELD niae-tenths Of the world
radiuu, and the amount isolated from tn
product Of these mines IS slightly incress
ing each wear
There are smaller radium-producin
h mines in Bohemia, Portugal, southev
! Australia, Afghanisran and Cornwa,
England. Most Of these countries pre-
duce but a gram OF 50 year. while III
United States IS producing about ,
= grams.
: Originally, radium was isolated b
I Madame Cure from pitchblende, and "a
: a time pitchblende was sought as III
: source Of supply But there was CON
/ parativelv little pitchhlende 70 he foun
: and now most Of the radium made IS de
Z rived from canotite THIS IS a bright
! canary yellow metal, which occurs in sof
! sandstone. nearly always with fossil wood
I and often with the fossil bones Of longer
! tinct ANIMALS At first il was found onf
/ ON the surface and on the edges Of cliff,