Rad

“ But no sooner are the marginal lines of her net firmly stretched, and two or three radii spun from its centre, than she continues her labor so quickly and unremittingly that the eye can scarcely follow her progress. The radii, to the number of about twenty, giving the net the appearance of a wheel, are speedily finished. She then proceeds to the centre, quickly turns herself round, and pulls each thread with her feet to ascertain its strength, breaking any one that seems defective and replacing it by another. ”

“ But we must not forget that when radium was discovered no one knew that it would prove useful in hospitals. The work was one of pure science. And this is a proof that scientific work must not be considered from the point of view of the direct usefulness of it. It must be done for itself, for the beauty of science, and then there is always the chance that a scientific discovery may become like the radium a benefit for humanity. ”

“ Now, the special interest of radium is in the intensity of its rays which is several million times greater than the uranium rays. And the effects of the rays make the radium so important. If we take a practical point of view, then the most important property of the rays is the production of physiological effects on the cells of the human organism. These effects may be used for the cure of several diseases. Good results have been obtained in many cases. What is considered particularly important is the treatment of cancer. ”

“ Several have as their aim the study of the emanation, that strange gaseous body that radium produces and which is largely responsible for the intense radiation commonly attributed to the radium itself. Pierre Curie demonstrated by a searching examination the rigorous and invariable law according to which the emanation destroys itself, no matter what the conditions are in which it finds itself. To-day the emanation of radium, harvested in tiny phials, is commonly employed by physicians as a therapeutic agent. ”

“ By experimenting, I have found that regenerating rays are contained in super-radium. In fact, my theory is that the regenerating rays and the invisible rays of super-radium are synonymous. Such being the case, when the current of super-radium is turned on by the clockwork, it will flow to Earth and, returning, enter the virator and restore my body to a normal condition, freeing it from the fumes of chloroform and making it capable of receiving its new life. ”

“ Section of Web.As usual, the radii, or spokes, of the wheel-shaped structure are first made; then the spider begins a little way from the centre, and, passing from one radius to another, spins a series of loops at considerable distances from each other till she reaches the circumference. These first loops, like the radii, are of white, dry, and inelastic silk, and may be recognized by the little notches at their junction with the radii. ”

“ But science is not rich, it does not dispose of important means, it does not generally meet recognition before the material usefulness of it has been proved. The factories produce many grams of radium every year, but the laboratories have very small quantities. It is the same for my laboratory and I am very grateful to the American women who wish me to have more of radium and give me the opportunity of doing more work with it.
The scientific history of radium is beautiful. The properties of the rays have been studied very closely. ”

“ Radium emits a stream of active corpuscles moving with great speed. Certain of them carry a positive charge and form the Alpha rays; others, much smaller, carry a negative charge and form Beta rays. The movements of these two groups are influenced by a magnet. A third group is constituted by the rays that are insensible to the action of a magnet, and that, we know to-day, are a radiation similar to light and to X-rays. ”

“ But the radii, from growing against rectangular indentations, or rather furrows, in the opposed compartments, come to be set a little inwards; and their external surfaces assume a very different appearance from the wall-portions of the compartments, which grow against the surface of attachment. In different species, the summits of the radii (and of the alæ) grow either very much more obliquely than in the species figured, or more squarely—that is, they extend from tip to tip of the adjoining compartments, parallel to the basis. ”

“ I said to Doe. "You'll find me trembling like a frightened sparrow in the study."
With that I left him, and, going to our study, stood gazing out of the window at a sudden shower of rain. To nerve myself for any shock of disappointment I muttered monotonously some old words of Radley's: "Does it matter to a strong swimmer if the wave beats against him? Does it matter—does it matter—" Soon a roar of many voices was heard in the distance. The list was up. I could not tell whether they were cheering in triumph or groaning in dismay. Then someone ran along the corridor and burst in. ”

“ Radium covers an equal distance while we pronounce its name. One and one-quarter seconds, and twenty-five thousand miles are traversed. Puck promises to put his "girdle round the earth in forty minutes." Radium would pass the fairy girdlist in the spin round sixteen hundred times. Thus truth, as it is being evolved in our day, becomes stranger than the wildest imaginings of fiction. ”

“ The radii, when developed, are broad, square on the summit, and covered by brownish hirsute epidermis: internally they are formed of tubes like those forming the parietes; in this respect differing from all the species except the following, T. costata. The tubes in the radii run obliquely down towards the basis; instead of in a transverse line, directly towards the opposite compartment, as might have been expected from the structure of the radii in Balanus. The alæ have their edges finely crenated. The sheath in all the specimens which I have observed is colourless; its lower edge is not free. ”

“ When everything is in readiness for the spirit to enter the body again, a strong flow of super-radium is sent through the top globe from an instrument attached. Passing through the small chamber and down the narrow passage, it reaches the body, and immediately changes to a return flow. This current is but momentary; the patient is seen to move, and the body is once more quickened by the life spark. ”

“ This instrument, when its sensitiveness is not deadened by the powerful control magnet I am obliged to keep near it for these experiments, is wonderfully sensible to light. In my own laboratory, a candle thirty-six feet off produces a decided movement, and the motion of the index increases inversely with the square of the distance, thus answering the third question, "Is the amount of action in direct proportion to the amount of radiation?" ”

“ The bearing of the discovery of radium and radioactivity upon theories of the atom and matter will be considered in a moment; first the more tangible qualities of this wonderful substance may be briefly referred to. The fact that radio-active emanations traverse all forms of matter to greater or less depth—that is, pass through wood and iron with something the same ease that light passes through a window-glass—makes the subject one of greatest interest; and particularly so as the demonstration of this fact is so tangible. ”

“ Radium is not alone in having these properties. Many having other radioelements are known already, the polonium, the mesothorium, the radiothorium, the actinium. We know also radioactive gases, named emanations. There is a great variety of substances and effects in radioactivity. There is always a vast field left to experimentation and I hope that we may have some beautiful progress in the following years. It is my earnest desire that some of you should carry on this scientific work and keep for your ambition the determination to make a permanent contribution to science. ”

“ This document read:
"In the event of my death I give to the Institut du Radium, of Paris, for exclusive use in the Laboratoire Curie, the gramme of radium which was given to me by the Executive Committee of Women of the Marie Curie Radium Fund, pursuant to an agreement dated the 19th day of May, 1921."
This act was consistent with the whole life of the discoverer of radium; with the answer she had made to my question a year before:
"Radium is not to enrich any one. It is an element; it is for all people." ”

“ Touch any of the common Sea-Anemones, and you will find that it is firmly fixed to the rock; at an early period of life it becomes fixed, and practically it remains always in one place, although a slight movement of the base is sometimes possible. Hence the advantage of the "radial" structure, for the arms reach equally in all directions round that most important centre of activity, the mouth. ”

“ Another trial was made in the same manner with 15 radicles; but from circumstances, not worth explaining, they were only once and briefly examined after the short interval of 5 h. 30 m.; and we merely record in our notes “almost all bent slightly from the perpendicular, and away from the squares; the deflection amounting in one or two instances to nearly a rectangle.” These two sets of cases, especially the first one, prove that the apex of the radicle is sensitive to slight contact and that the upper part bends from the touching object. ”

“ Thus a scientist or a doctor unable to procure the metal radium may easily experiment with a bit of wood or glass rendered radio-active—that is, charged by radium emanations, and capable of replacing the original metal as long as the charge keeps its potency. ”

“ It would be out of place here to give an account of the numerous experiments that have been made by physicists and physiologists on the action of the rays of radium and of other radio-active substances on different organisms, such as caterpillars, mice and guinea-pigs. In some cases, the experiments have been carried out by placing the organisms in an atmosphere impregnated 217with the radium emanation. The effect of an exposure under such conditions for several days or weeks has been found generally harmful and in many cases fatal. ”

“ If a person blind from cataract can see the radium light as you have just seen it, then the eyesight of that person may be restored by removing the cataract. Otherwise it cannot be restored."
As we returned to the laboratory I remarked that the quantity of radium in the various tubes I had seen was very small.
"Of course it is small," he sighed; "there is very little radium in the world. I mean very little that has been taken from the earth and purified." ”

“ Radii.—The radii are very wide in C. diadema. In all the species their summits are square or parallel to the basis. Their internal structure is remarkable: as the walls in this genus are extremely thin, so are the proper radii, for in fact they consist in this and all cases, as we know, of one margin of the wall modified by its lateral growth against the opposed compartment. ”

“ It will be in your remembrance that, in the chapter in which we were dealing with waves in the air, I showed you a very interesting experiment illustrating the refraction of rays of sound by means of a carbonic acid prism, and I have now to bring before you an exactly analogous experiment performed with electric radiation. Here, for instance, is a prism made of paraffin wax, a substance which you have already seen is transparent to the electric ray. ”

“ I'll tell her we are going to rescue a poor fellow from—er—well from the natives of South America, and I'm sure she'll consent. Of course I'll go."
"That's three," remarked Tom. "I think I can get Eradicate to go. He doesn't like airships, and when he knows we're not going in one it will please him. Then he likes it hot, and I guess South America is about as warm as they come. I am almost sure we can count on Rad."
"That will make a nice party," commented the circus man. ”

“ This physicist subjected a narrow beam of radium rays to the simultaneous action of an electric field and a magnetic field, the two fields being uniform and having a similar direction, normal to the original direction of the beam. The impression produced on a plate normal to the primitive beam and placed beyond the limits of the field with reference to the source, has the form of a curve, each point of which corresponds to one of the original beam. The most penetrating and least deflected rays are at the same time those with the greatest velocity. ”

“ Nor does the optic nerve embrace the entire range even of radiation. Some rays, when they reach it, are incompetent to evoke its power, while others never reach it at all, being absorbed by the humours of the eye. To all rays which, whether they reach the retina or not, fail to excite vision, we give the name of invisible or obscure rays. ”

“ Every good thing in life is dual, and through this natural and spontaneous marriage of radium and electricity, we get very close to the secret of life. As the sun is the giver of life and death, so by the use of the salts of radium have scientists vitalized certain forms of cell-life into growth and activity, and by the same token, and the use of the radium-ray, do they destroy the germs of disease. ”

“ Experiment 157.—I shall now describe the normal reaction of a growing organ to the unilateral stimulus of [Pg 413] thermal radiation. Figure 151 gives a record of response of the stem of Dregea to stimulus of short duration; the induced curvature is positive or towards the source of heat. On the cessation of stimulus, there is a recovery which is practically complete, and which takes place at a slower rate than the excitatory positive curvature. ”

“ Radio-active substances are constantly giving off energy in the form of heat, sending forth rays which have definite and remarkable properties, and producing gaseous emanations which are very unstable, and change, some very rapidly, some less rapidly, into other substances, and emit rays which are generally the same as the rays emitted by the parent substance. In briefly considering these three phenomena, I shall choose radium compounds as representative of the class of radio-active substances. ”