Evening star., 1954-10-29
Radioactive Touds
Aid Medical Studies
Help Explain Mysteries
OF Ancient Practices
By Thomos r. Henry

Radioactive toads. produced by feed
ing them radioactive snails. which In
turn have eaten lettuce, also RADIO
active, are being utilized by University
Of Chicago scientists to throw light
on mysteries of medicine which ex-
tend far into the darkness Of antiquity.
Toad concoctions were part Of this
devils brew Of Macbeths witches.
Ancient Greeks considered q some-
what similar mixture o shield against
all evil. South American Indians put
certain toad secretions on the tips Of
their arrows to prevent the blood Of
slightly wounded animals from clotting.
so that the game would bleed to death.
The toad had prominent place In
old Chinese pharmacology.
Within the last decade It has de-
veloped that there was q sound basis
for some Of these primitive ideas.
From gland in the neck Of most
species Of these amphibians. when
an animal is irritated. there is ex-
uded o secretion which contains o
substance quite similar to the ex-
tremely potent heart medicine digi-
tails and also adrenalin, the first
known of adrenal gland secretions which
has potent effect on the nervous
system. Quite recently O species Of
South American toads has been found
to secrete the latest discovered Of
the hormones, serotonin, which is q
potent blood pressure reducer and may
have pronounced effects on the brain.
Study Course In Blood.
BY making these potent drugs ra-
dioactive in the body of the toad,
using a technique described at O re-
cent Congressional hearing by DR.. e.
M. K. Ceiling, University Of Chicago
professor Of pharmacology, it Is pos
sible to follow precisely their progress
when they are injected into the hui
man blood stream. and thus determine
now their effects are produced.
First lettuce is grown in q chamber
containing radioactive carbon dioxide,
the rare atmospheric gas which, in the
vital process Of photosynthesis. pro-
yldes the sugars, starches and cellulose
which are the major constituents of
plants. Slugs are let loose in the let
tuce and soon almost completely de-
YOUR it. These slugs then are fed to
the toads. AS result, all tissues of
an amphibian's body, including the
potent drugs in the neck glands, also
become radioactive. Then, with some
kind OF radioactive counter, the rate
OF their concentration in various organs
can be determined and more valid the
ories promulgated as to the reasons
for their rather weird effects.
The radioactive carbon dioxide util-
lied by the lettuce plants contains the
isotope carbon IA, of which there al
ways Is a minute fraction in the at
mosphere due to the transmutation Of
elements from the bombardment of
nitrogen at great attitudes by cosmic
rays. In minute amounts, it is rela-
lively harmless. emitting fairly weak
beta radiation, or electrons. It has
found no place in atomic medicine be-
cause OF its long half life, approxi-
mately 5000 years, the period in which
its original activity is reduced to half.
It would be quite dangerous to leave
permantly radioactive substance in
the body.
The toad drugs" however, do not
become incorporated permanently in
! the tissues. .1~@
Drug Producing Discovery.
Early in the days Of atomic medicine
it was realized that various drugs which
are plant products-morphine digita-
lis and the like-could be produced by
growing the plants which produce them
IN an atmosphere. charged with radio
active carbon dioxide. Use of similar
procedure with animal produced SUBJ
stances, however. long eluded the ex-
perimental pharmacologists.
"The slug does not know the differ
ence," said Dr.. Ceiling, between the
radioactive plant and the normal
plant. AS result, he is made very
radioactive. We took the slug and
pushed it down the throat of the toad,
which is sluggish creature. In a
short time we found that the toad also
became radioactive.
"The use of the toad as a medicinal
product goes back to great antiquity.
The ancient Chinese discovered that
1t has secretion in the skin which
would relieve patient with dropsy.
"Bufagin, the digitalis-like substance
secreted by the toad, is being used
especially to study effects on the heart
action Of various mammals which, in
stead Of being direct and simple as
hitherto supposed, actually appears
-