The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1921-02-16
WILL USE X-RAY
TO TREAT CANCER
Harvard Professor Making E Experi-
ments-Sure to Alleviate

coveries made by William Duane,
professor of biology at Harvard,
working in collaboration with re-
search students of physics, have
made it possible, according To Har-
ward physicists, to secure X-rays of
more penetrating quality than have
ever before been obtained in this
country and these new rays are now
to be used for the first time in Am
erica for the alleviation of cancer.
While it is emphatically stated by
Professor Duane that neither x
rays nor radium should be consider
ed a permanent cure for all kinds of
cancer it has long been, known that
radium has marked .alleviative eff
feet upon this disease, and the Har-
ward physicists have reason TO be-
lieve that the effect of the new high
ly penetrating X-rays will be equal
ly beneficial.
The Harvard cancer commission
is erecting new building adjoining
the Coils P. Huntington hospital in
Boston, where an X-ray plant will
be installed as we'll as the commits
lsion's radium plant. Confident that
the life of cancer patients may thus
be prolonged life insurance COM
panies of Boston have given over
100000 toward the new building.
The significance of the discovery
was explained in the following
statement made to the Associated
Press at Harvard today:
1.-THE advantage of X-rays over
radium is that the latter is scarce
and immensely expensive, costing at
present over 100000 a gram, and
can therefore only be used in small
quantities. If X-rays were used it
would be possible to make the rays
enormously more powerful than has
been possible with the limited
amount of radium available. The
trouble with the use of .X-rays up to
this time has been that they are not
as penetrating as the socalled gam
ma rays of radiuml and the problem
of the Harvard physicists has been
to secure this needed quality.
'It was known that to secure PEN
etration it was necessary to secure
a high frequency of vibration. The
Harvard physicists after a great
number of experiments at length,
found that a physical law known as
the 'quantum law applied to the
X-ray spectrum and discovered that
they could increase the frequency of
the rays and thus their pentration
by increasing the voltage of current
used in the X-ray tube. Professor
Duane reports that the tube goes
to pieces under a voltage of more
than 100000 volts but that a suffi-
GENTLY high voltage has been secur-
ed to make the X-rays very nearly
as effectively for certain medical
purposes as the gamma rays of radi-
um.
"The Germans, it is said, have
made great headway recently with
the ues of high frequency X-rays in
alleviating cancer but these particu-
lar rays have not been used in AM
erica up to this time.
"a vast amount of work has re-
Gently been done by Professor
Duane in the detailed study of x
ray specter. Some of this work may
prove effective in increasing the med
ical value of X-rays but much of it
is being done simply with the scien-
tific purpose of getting to know
more about the mysterious rays and
the laws which govern them.
"Long continued exposure to x
rays is so dangerous to the operator
that the greatest pains have to be
taken to protect him from them. In
the Jefferson-physical laboratory at
Harvard where Professor Duane
makes his experiments, the X-ray
plant is kept in a room by itself and
the rays are sent out through a
minute slit in the wall. The brick
wall at this point is reinforced with
lead and a lead screen is placed
across the door. Many experiment.