Evening star., 1954-10-01
Smoking Habits in Siam
Muy Aid Concer Study
Natives Are Heavy Smokers,
But Few Develop conesr
By Thomos R. Henry

~ hHUmU3 ". VOuby
6iamese are heavy cigarette smokers.
vet they show very. little lung cancer.
There has been no recent cancer In.
crease in Siam, as there has been In
America and Europe and believed by
many to be due to increased cigarette
consumption.
The difference may throw some light
on highly controversial question, DR..
Paul d. Rosahn Of New Britain, Conn.
has reported to the international Con.
gress Of Clinical Pathology.
Two kinds Of cigarettes are commonly
smoked In Siam. but not by the same
people. he said. One is made Of Virginia
tobacco wrapped in paper. The other
is made of native Siamese tobacco
wrapped In lotus petals or banana leaf.
The former is relative innovation.
He urged an effort to determine whether
there were lung cancer cases among the
lotus petal smokers.
While connection between this in
creasing nalady and cigarettes still is
debatable, 1t has been poStulated that
q cancer causing substance may be con.
tanned in the paper whose smoke is In.
hailed or in some of the ingredients
mixed with tobacco by the marufac-
turers to add flavor. burning quality or
"mildness." Others have poStulated
that some cancer-causer has gotten
genetically into some varieties Of
tobacco.
Case Frequency I'm China.
DR.. Rosahn believes lung cancer may
not be 90 rare as 1t seems In Siam,
since doctors do not have equipment or
skill to diagnose 1t and probably miss
many cases.
Quite different is the case in Hong
Kong, reported Chinese Delegate DR..
Pao-Chang Hou. Bronchial cancer, he
said, now is the second most frequent
sort encountered IN Hong Kong hos
pitals and is about twice as frequent
IN men as in women. In many cases
healed tuberculosis LESSONS were found
in the lungs but it has been impossible
to establish relationship between the
two diseases.
Neither. he said. does there seem to
be any relationship with cigarettes.
Mice exposed twice q day for over q
year to tobacco smoke developed no
cancer.
The evidence for q relationship be-
tween lung cancer and cigarettes is, at
the best highly suggestive, said DR..
Sidney J. Cutler of the National Insti-
tutes Of Health. The increase has been
roughly parallel to the increase in
cigarette smoking but it also has paral-
leled the advent Of automobiles, gaso-
line, fuel oil and asphalt roads.
Green and purple diamonds are being
produced by atomic bombardment.
This is reported by DR.. r. A. Dugdale
Of the British Harwell pile, the chief
seat Of British experimentation in
atomic energy.
The color changes take .place when
the gems are placed in beam Of neu-
irons. or unchanged elementary parti.
cles which are the major factors in
atom fission. The color deepens with
time, DR.. Dugdale reports, and after
about week some of the diamonds
are "opaquely green." without losing
their sparkle. Similar results had been
reported hitherto for gems exposed to
the alpha particles from radium.
Heat Affects Color.
The color can be reduced, and some
times done away with altogether, when
the diamonds are heated to tempera-
lures approaching 1000 centigrade.
The color changes occur, DR.. Dug
dale believes. when the neutrons. hit
carbon atoms which happen to be In
precisely the right positions in the dia-
lnond lattice. Thus the phenomenon
may throw considerable light on the
structure of the gems and the reasons
for their particular brilliance.
So far as the value of the diamond
as an ornament is concerned, it Is
pointed out, there is no advantage in
changing its color. It would have no
additional value except as novelty.
It Is planned to continue the expert
ments from time to time with other
types Of atomic bombardment but the
results hardly are expected to be as
spectacular as those produced by the
neutrons. Electron bombardment. the
easiest available kind. is not expected to
have any color-changing effect.