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diff --git a/75150-0.txt b/75150-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..47aecb1 --- /dev/null +++ b/75150-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1445 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75150 *** + + + + + + Transcriber’s Note + Italic text displayed as: _italic_ + + + + + LITTLE BLUE BOOK NO. 1050 + Edited by E. Haldeman-Julius + + X-Ray, Violet Ray + and Other Rays + + With Their Use in Modern Medicine + + Maynard Shipley + + HALDEMAN-JULIUS COMPANY + GIRARD, KANSAS + + + + + Copyright, 1926, + Haldeman-Julius Company + + PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS + + Page + + Introduction 4 + + Chapter I. Everyday Uses of X-Rays 5 + + Chapter II. Curative Value of X-Rays—X-Rays Cure Whooping + Cough—X-Rays for Malaria 18 + + Chapter III. Martyrs to Radiology 32 + + Chapter IV. Discovery and Nature of X-Rays 43 + + Chapter V. Ultra-Violet Light in Health and Disease—Sunlight + and Infantile Paralysis 48 + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +Highly important as are the phenomena of Radioactivity from the +physical, chemical, medical, and philosophic points of view, they +are hardly comparable in their relations to the affairs of our +everyday life to the Roentgen or X-rays, and to the invisible violet +or ultra-violet rays. The X-rays are utilized today in hundreds of +practical ways, and are vastly important also in surgery, medicine, +dentistry, and in biological investigations. It is perhaps not too much +to say that the discovery of the so-called X-rays should be numbered +among the two or three most important revelations of modern science. +This will be clearly demonstrated in the course of the chapters to +follow. + + + + +X-RAY, VIOLET RAY AND OTHER RAYS + + + + +CHAPTER I + +EVERYDAY USES OF X-RAYS + + +To enumerate and describe all the practical uses of X-rays, apart from +medicine and scientific research in general, would require a good many +more pages than can be devoted to the subject here. To take a few cases +at random, without describing the instruments and methods employed: +radiography reveals flaws in the structure of iron and steel building +and bridge materials, and in the cylinders of airplane engines, and so +avoids accidents. In England a gasoline or petrol tank was shown to +have rivet heads on the outside and none on the inside. + +Serious defects in the steel axles of railway and automobile “under +carriages” have been discovered by radiography. In one case, at least, +the axles had been drilled in the wrong position and the holes had been +simply filled with metal and covered over. An entire lot was rejected +in consequence and probably serious accidents were forestalled. + + “Cracks in castings, bad welds and weak places which do not show on + the surface of metal are perfectly clear to the searching rays. How + much would you give to _know_ that that welded part in your automobile + is really solid and perfect, that it contains no flaw to break down + some day when you are twenty miles from a machine shop? A well-known + mechanical engineer said recently that in ten years a metallurgical + X-ray machine will be as vital a part of the equipment in an + automobile repair shop, a foundry, or machine shop as it is now in a + dentist’s office.” + +We are assured by _The Iron Trade_ (73:26) that “the practice of +analyzing metals by means of X-rays is only in its infancy. There +is every reason to believe that soon great advances will be made in +determining the crystallization and therefore the properties of metals. +Students of metallurgy are well aware that the properties of metals +and other bodies depend on the nature of their crystallization. The +microscope has rendered valuable service largely because it enables +the form and arrangement of the crystalline grains to be studied. The +X-ray carries the same form of inquiry into a region 10,000 times more +minute, thereby furnishing new evidence as to crystalline structures, +so that it is now possible to see the atoms and the molecules, and +the way they form crystals. Every crystal has its characteristic +X-ray spectrum and can be identified thereby even when the individual +crystals are beyond the resolving power of the microscope and the +substance is in danger of being called amorphous. If a specimen +contains a mixture of crystalline substances, the spectrum shows the +combined effect of all the substances, and provided each individual +spectrum is known, the specimen can be analyzed.” + +The X-rays are also used to determine the quality of the fabric in +automobile tires, and even to detect irregularities in the centers of +golf balls, and to reveal why some of them fly straighter and farther +than others. + +“The professional detective, too,” says Mr. Wilfred S. Ogden (_Popular +Science Monthly_, August, 1923), “will find X-rays useful in his +business. Consider the detection of infernal machines, for example. +Two or three X-ray plates will tell an investigator just what is in a +suspicious-looking box. If it is a bomb the X-ray will show him how +to get it apart and render it harmless. Immediate detection of false +bottoms in trunks is child’s play with the X-ray. When the government +provided its customs inspectors with X-ray machines the gems which +smugglers try to hide in the linings of clothes or in hollow-handled +hairbrushes might as well be worn openly. + +“The X-rays give us one of the easiest ways to detect the alteration +of checks and other documents. It is seldom that such an alteration is +made with exactly the same ink used on the original. Inks even of the +same color, differ in the way they affect the rays. In most cases all +that is necessary to detect an alteration is to place the suspected +document for a moment under the X-rays and make a photograph of it. The +new ink used in the alteration will stand out clearly as different from +the old. + +“The industrial detective will find X-rays just as useful. The +adulteration of foods by sawdust, sand or clay; the adding of too much +filler to paper; the presence of grit in lubricating oil, all will be +revealed. + +“Another use of the rays comes home to every cook and housewife. X-rays +constitute the only sure way to tell good eggs from bad. Pass each +egg in turn through the X-rays and let its shadow fall on a chemical +screen. You will see exactly what is inside each egg. The ones +containing hopeful chicks may be rejected.” + +One of the most remarkable economic or biological uses of the X-ray +so far developed is the study of silk-worms and their diseases. The +Silk Association of America has established a laboratory—Department of +Sericulture—in the Canton Christian College, presided over by a staff +of Chinese and foreign entomologists. Here the silk-worm is X-rayed by +powerful microscopes, and all his disorders diagnosed and corrected, +says Mr. Philip A. Yountz (_Scientific American_, September, 1925). + +“Numerous autopsies on deceased members of the silk-worm tribe revealed +that from 50 to 100 percent of the worms raised in South China were +infected with diseases that made the infant mortality rate excessively +high and destroyed the value of the silk from those hardy enough to +survive. The elimination of these diseases would enable South China to +produce four or five times as much silk.” + +In Great Britain, X-rays are used in the analysis of coal, the method +being an adaptation of the X-ray stereoscope. + +In Berlin, S. Nalken, a noted criminologist, has devised an important +improvement in finger-print identification. X-ray pictures are +obtained of the finger, with the muscles and bones. This is done +without the use of any chemicals that could obstruct the delicate +furrows of the finger lines. Moreover, the finger bone is shaped +so characteristically as to aid identification. Whenever a certain +likeness of finger-lines is discovered, the bones are examined to see +if further research is necessary. + +Picture fakers have been dethroned by application of the X-ray to +paintings. Recently painted “old masters” are now easily detected. +Modern artists use white-lead, which is more opaque than the “priming” +or “sizing” used by the older artists; and the X-ray device “made in +Germany” in 1914 by Dr. Faber, and further developed by the French +expert, Dr. André Chéron, at once distinguishes the old from the new. +One picture by Van Ostade, of men drinking at a table, proved to be a +fraud when submitted to the X-ray; it had been painted over a study of +dead birds. Another, called “The Royal Child,” a supposed 16th century +work, now in the Louvre, was proved to have been painted during the +19th century over a picture of very much earlier date. + +During a popular lecture on the X-ray in London, before the Royal +Institution, the distinguished physicist, Prof. G. W. C. Kaye, showed +a number of radiograph slides, among which were two pictures by Dutch +painters, one representing the Madonna and the other the Crucifixion. +In the former, the Madonna appeared to be looking at something which +was non-existent in the canvas, and a radiograph proved the missing +object was a child which some former owner of the picture had painted +out. In the second picture, a woman in the attitude of prayer was found +to have been painted over what was in the original the figure of a man +in monk’s garb. + +The first X-ray pictures ever taken of a mummy were completed by +scientists at the American Museum of Natural History, New York City. +The pictures showing the skeleton in detail are expected to be a great +aid in studying the development of bone formations in the evolution of +man. This first subject of the scientists’ X-ray was a South American +Indian mummy. Fake mummies, like false gems, are instantly detected by +X-ray methods. + +One of the methods used for detecting the theft of diamonds at the +mines is to examine the workmen with X-rays. Of course, a fluoroscope +is used to make the X-ray image visible, and this is the type used in +any regular X-ray work. + +The X-rays are now being used in shoe-stores—“foot-o-scope” +instruments—to enable shoe salesmen to see the bones of a customer’s +foot and thus make correct fittings of shoes. + +A few years ago there arrived from Germany a new kind of mechanical +doll. “A secret mechanism inside enabled it to walk, sit down or stand +up, and to do other unusual things. The importer in possession of the +sample doll would not allow it to be opened. But one of the competitors +borrowed the doll. He had promised not to open it. But he made some +X-ray photographs of it. Now he is manufacturing these dolls himself.” + +During the World War every effort was made to introduce contraband +materials into Germany and if it had not been for the all-seeing eye of +the Roentgen ray, it would have been impossible to prevent materials of +the utmost importance to the enemy from reaching him by way of neutral +countries. Efforts were made repeatedly to smuggle rubber and copper by +burying them in bales or bundles of other materials. It would have been +impossible to have made a minute investigation of every bale that was +shipped, but by means of X-rays it was possible to see through these +bundles and packages and locate any substances that were more or less +opaque to the rays. + +The X-ray has been found useful for examining timber up to 18 inches +thick for internal knots, resin pockets, cracks and other defects. + +“When submarines were active and the supply of the best kinds of wood +was uncertain, it was necessary to make some of the wooden parts out +of small pieces of ordinary wood fitted and glued together. The way +these pieces were joined and fastened was extremely important. A bit of +weak glue inside some little strut might mean a disastrous collapse in +the air. But real inspection seemed impossible, for the places where +important faults might exist were hidden from view. Finally scientists +solved the problem by building an X-ray apparatus with which they could +look into the inside of each built-up airplane part and tell whether it +held some little imperfection which might prove dangerous. + +“This ‘internal inspection’ of wooden articles by X-ray has been +applied, since the war, to many other articles. Hidden joints inside +high-class furniture and cabinet work, invisible knots and flaws inside +the wood itself, can be determined easily by X-ray examination.” (W. S. +Ogden). + +_The Scientific American_ (September, 1924) published an abstract of +a paper read before the _Deutschen Bunsen-Gesellschaft_, in which +Dr. D. Coster showed that “the relations between the X-ray spectra of +the different elements are so simple that, in some respects, they are +more useful for purposes of chemical analysis than ordinary luminous +spectra. An important advantage is the fact that the X-ray spectrum +of an element is quite independent of the nature of the compound +containing it. It is easy to detect the presence in a mixture of +which not more than one milligram is available. Certain precautions +are necessary in examining the X-ray spectra; although the number of +lines for each element is comparatively limited, recent observations +have shown the existence of a number of weaker lines; in addition to +this, with the high voltages now generally used, not only the spectrum +of the first order, but also those of higher orders appear. Slight +impurities in the material of the anticathode, and in the subject +under examination, also give their lines, so that there are often +various possibilities to be considered before a given line can be +explained. Not only the wave length, but also the typical appearance +of the suspected lines must be considered, as well as their relative +intensity. By measuring photometrically the intensity of the spectral +lines it is possible, in some cases, to obtain a quantitative estimate +of the amount of an element present in a mixture.” + +Another method of rapid analysis of material in the laboratory by +the use of X-rays in a much shorter time than that required by the +older chemical methods is that devised by Professor Urbain, of the +Minero-Chemical Laboratory at the Sorbonne, with the assistance of +Eugene Delaunay. Mr. Delaunay, who did the actual work of testing the +new X-ray method, says there is no risk of error. + +By employment of X-rays the scientist is now able to ascertain the +arrangement of the atoms and molecules within the crystal “network” +(structure—or “space lattice” of the crystal).[1] The results are +obtained from the study of the reflection and refraction of the rays by +the crystals, or, more precisely, the successive rows of molecules in +the crystal. These act toward the extremely short X-rays in the same +way as a grating spectroscope does to ordinary light-rays. + +Man’s ability to lengthen the ultra-violet end of the spectrum is +limited by his capacity to provide a diffraction grating, or a mineral +prism, which can split up light-waves of increasingly greater frequency +(or shortness). The width of a grating space (a fine line on speculum +metal, which acts as a minute mirror) must be comparable to the wave +length of the light. Previous to the discoveries of Prof. Max von +Laue in Munich (now in Zurich), and Prof. William Henry Bragg, of the +University of London, no grating or other material was known whose +spaces were as small as the wave length of X-rays. Laue conceived the +brilliant idea that the regular arrangement of the atoms in a crystal +might serve the purpose. They did. Bragg, and later his son, Prof. W. +L. Bragg, of the University of Manchester, followed up the work of Laue +with results of immeasurable value to science. + +A very important relation between the atomic number of an element +and its X-ray spectrum was discovered by the brilliant young English +physicist, H. G. T. Moseley (1888-1915), in his 26th year, a year +before his death by a Turkish bullet at the Dardanelles. While +analyzing the characteristic X-rays which are given off when any kind +of substance is bombarded with cathode rays, Moseley found that the +atoms of all the different substances emit radiations or groups of +radiations which are extraordinarily similar, but which differ in their +wave lengths as we proceed from substance to substance; the frequencies +(wave lengths) change by definite steps as one progresses from elements +of lower to elements of higher atomic weights. Through Moseley’s +epoch-making discovery we now know that each of the 92 elements, +from hydrogen to uranium, is built up by successive additions of one +positive charge (proton) and one negative electron, and that the atomic +numbers—from 1 to 92—correspond to the number of protons and electrons +in each successively heavier (and more complex) atom. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] This phase of our subject can only be alluded to in this little +book. For an authoritative yet easily understood exposition of the +subject, see Bragg, W. H. and W. L., “X-Rays and Crystal Structure”; +also Kaye, G. W. C., “X-Rays”; and, for more advanced reading, +deBroglie, Maurice, “X-Rays”. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +CURATIVE VALUE OF X-RAYS + + +In my Little Blue Book on Radium (No. 1000), it is shown that the +“emanation” and the “gamma rays” of radioactive substances are being +used to great advantage in our hospitals, but that certain dangers to +the patient’s normal cells attended employment of these radiations. + +It is gratifying to note that successful X-ray treatments are now +being given in cases of cancer, rays being produced—under high-tension +currents—that are almost identical with the gamma rays of radium. + +Moreover, the X-rays have a double value in medicine. In the first +place, they are used as an aid to diagnosis, forming those branches of +radiotherapy known as radioscopy and radiography. Then they are also +used to great advantage in the alleviation or cure of certain maladies. +By means of radioscopic or radiographic examination it may be found +that there is a tumor in the chest, and as a result of that diagnosis +it may be decided to institute treatment (radiotherapy) by means of +X-rays or radium rays or the two combined. + +The method of employing extremely penetrating X-rays—under high voltage +and amperage—seems to have been first used in Germany, during the World +War, but was soon developed to a high degree of efficiency in France, +England, and the United States, especially by Dr. William Duane, +professor of biophysics at Harvard. + +As early as 1919, Professor Dessauer, in Germany, produced the +penetrating X-rays by means of a high-tension current ranging from +170,000 to 240,000 volts. It was later found, that rays at 200,000 +volts became homogeneous, so that a further increase was considered as +of no therapeutic value. + +In March, 1923, Dr. I. Seth Hirsch, head of the X-ray department of the +Bellevue Hospital in New York, gave a drastic treatment—for cancer—of +four periods of 16 hours each with the X-rays at 250,000 volts, +apparently with satisfactory results. The patient suffered no pain or +inconvenience during the treatment with the exception of occasional +nausea. A year later an experiment was made in a Philadelphia +laboratory where an X-ray treatment of 300,000 volts was used. It seems +that alleviation rather than cure has been the result of nearly all +cases where cancer had been well advanced. + +Other important improvements, meanwhile, were being introduced by the +German specialists, during the World War and later, among which was +the just mentioned method of giving large tissue-destroying doses, +requiring from ten to 15 hours; to this was added careful filtration +of the rays, and the invention of the _ionto_—a quantimeter for exact +measurements. A number of malignant diseases is reported to have +yielded to this new system of massive doses under higher voltage. But +Professor Duane has stated that neither X-rays nor the gamma rays of +radium should be considered as a permanent cure for cancer. + +Until recently the tubes in which X-rays are produced have always been +made of glass. The latest discovery is a tube made of fused silica, or +vitreosil. Vitreosil permits the passage of the short rays, will stand +a much higher temperature than glass, and is much stronger. This means +more continuous service from X-rays. + +According to Dr. Francis C. Wood, director of the Crocker Institute +of Cancer Research of Columbia University, a marked advance in the +treatment of cancer has been made possible by a new type of X-ray +tube, the invention of Dr. C. T. Ulrey, of the Westinghouse Company. +The new tube has a higher emissive power—in other words, it is as if +the candle-power of an ordinary lamp were increased six-fold. It is +besides designed for use with higher voltages than have previously +been practical in Roentgenology. The result is to reduce the necessary +exposure from two or three hours per patient to 20 minutes, and to +increase the life of the tubes. Incidentally, the new tube gives a +greater proportion of the type of rays that cure certain forms of +cancer, and less of the sort that attack healthy tissue. + +A revolutionary discovery by Dr. Jacques Forestier, of Aix-les-Bains, +France, for which a gold medal was awarded him in 1925 by the French +Academy, has made possible a method of exact diagnosis by X-rays +heretofore deemed by many workers impossible of attainment. + +As is well known, it is not difficult to make an X-ray picture of +the bones of the body. They are so much denser than the soft parts +of the body that, even with the ordinary photographic plate, it has +been possible to photograph them fairly well. By pumping the stomach +full of gas or air—which are highly transparent to the X-rays—and +then applying the X-ray, it has sometimes been possible to locate the +beginnings of cancer of the stomach, and the place of malignant growth. + +Another method in common use is to give the patient about a pint of +some substance opaque to X-rays, such as bismuth carbonate, thus making +it possible to record the passage of the mixture, the outline of the +stomach and the intestines thus being made visible. In this way ulcers +of the stomach have been frequently located. + +Bismuth and similar substances could not be injected into the brain +or spinal cord, on account of their poisonous effect on the highly +sensitive cells of these regions. Now, thanks to the method discovered +by Dr. Forestier, the cavities of the brain and spine can be safely +explored, as well as the network of bronchial tubes in the lung—the +so-called “bronchial tree.” + +In an interview with Mr. David Dietz, Dr. Forestier said (in part): + +“I make use of a French oil called lipiodol. It is a chemical compound +composed of poppyseed oil and iodine. The chemical previously had been +used as a treatment for certain diseases, such as goiter. But no one +had ever thought of using it in X-ray work. + +“I noticed that where patients had been treated with lipiodol opaque +spots appeared when X-ray pictures were made of the treated parts. It +occurred to me, therefore, that lipiodol could be used as a means of +making photographs. + +“Accordingly, in company with Dr. Sicard of Paris, I began to +experiment. We worked with animals until we were convinced of the +correctness of our method. When we were sure that it was safe we tried +it on human beings. I have used it in more than 5,000 cases in Europe +without having a single adverse result. + +“The lipiodol is injected into the brain cavity or the canal of the +spinal cord or the bronchial tubes and then a regular X-ray photograph +is made. The oil renders the injected part opaque to X-rays and they +show up as sharp black images in the photographs. + +“The method is of particular value when a patient is suffering from +paralysis which has been caused by a pressure of a tumor or growth +somewhere along the spinal cord. In this case a drop of the oil is +injected into the spinal canal at the base of the brain. In a healthy +patient it would immediately travel to the base of the spine. But +in the paralyzed patient it only travels as far as the point of +compression. The X-ray picture therefore reveals the drop of oil as a +black spot. The surgeon then knows the exact spot at which to operate +in order to find the growth causing the pressure, which in turn results +in paralysis. + +“In diagnosing the lungs with the use of lipiodol the injection in the +bronchial tree enables the X-ray worker to tell at once whether the +patient is suffering from diseases of the bronchial tubes themselves, +or from diseases of the lung tissue, such as tuberculosis.” + +It is gratifying to be able to relate that along with the improvements +already described, progress has also been made in the preparation of +photographic plates required by the radiographer. Until recently no +photographic plate had been made which fully met the requirements of +X-ray work, and there was little contrast in X-ray photographs. They +were all much too sensitive to the longer (visible) wave lengths, and +produced blurring effects. + +Early in 1921 an excellent photographic plate, 25 times more rapid than +anything previously known, was invented by Dr. Leonard A. Levey, a +prominent member of the Roentgen Society. It makes an X-ray photograph +of the vital organs of the living body whose movements have hitherto +blurred the images on the ordinary photographic plate. Distinct +pictures of the heart, lungs and stomach can now be made. Dr. Levey has +made snapshot photographs of the heart, lungs and kidneys. All were +taken in a flash with the X-rays on the new plate. + +Dr. H. Becher has called the attention of Americans to the achievement +of Dr. Schleussner, an eminent German authority in photochemical +matters, who has succeeded, after years of investigation, in +sensitizing photographic plates for X-ray use by an addition of certain +organic salts which are absorbed by the grains of silver bromide on the +photographic plate. The plate thus formed is very responsive to the +soft rays of an X-ray tube. The soft rays are relatively longer than +the hard Roentgen rays. One could compare the soft rays to blue-violet +light, if their effects on this new photographic plate are used for the +comparison. Photographs taken with such plates give very contrasting +effects. + +On the “Neo-Roentgen plate” the effect of the yellow light was almost +nil. For this reason, developing the plate is considerably facilitated, +as the plate can be exposed to yellow light and the attendant, who need +not be a skilled operator, can examine the plate in a rather brilliant +light without necessarily guessing at possible results. The examination +of the plate under a ruby light is, therefore, completely done away +with. It follows that if the new X-ray plate should come into general +use, much clearer X-ray photographs would be possible; the time of +exposure could be decreased; an unskilled operator could develop the +plate in a room flooded with yellow light. Such improved plates are now +being extensively used. + +While not attempting to enumerate all the special affections to which +X-ray therapy is now being successfully applied, a few uses may be +mentioned. + + +X-RAYS CURE WHOOPING COUGH + +In a preliminary report published in the _Medical and Surgical Journal_ +(Boston), Dr. Henry I. Bowditch and Dr. Ralph D. Leonard express the +belief that a valuable cure for whooping cough has been found in X-ray +treatment of this disease, which has stubbornly resisted most, if not +all, of the other remedies applied. + +Definite improvement was noted in most of 26 cases of active pertussis +(whooping cough) treated with the X-ray, the subjects of which ranged +in age from three months to 40 years, with disease stages from one to +ten weeks. The physicians added that they could not give any rational +explanation of the action through which the X-ray appeared to produce +beneficial results. The report said: + +“Each patient received three or four applications of the X-ray at +intervals of two or three days.” + +Many of these cases have not been observed sufficiently long to +determine the final result. Nevertheless, “it is evident to us that +there resulted a definite improvement in these patients which cannot +be explained by mere accident.... It does not seem likely that [the +beneficial result] is due to any direct bactericidal property of the +X-ray. + +“We feel warranted in classifying a small percentage of these 26 cases +under the heading of “prompt cures.” By this we mean that after two or +three applications of X-rays, covering a period of six days, the spasms +and whoops entirely disappeared and the patients were clinically well, +except for, possibly, a very slight cough. + +“The bulk of the cases, however, we have classified as relieved. This +group consists of perhaps 70 percent of the total. By relieved we mean +that there has been a gradual diminution in the number of spasms. + +“There is a small percentage of cases, perhaps 10 to 15 percent, which +apparently were not relieved. In this group are included one moribund +case and one rather difficult feeding case. + +“While our evidence so far is not sufficient to warrant any definite +conclusions, we have the feeling that the X-ray at the present time may +be of more value in the treatment of pertussis than any other form of +treatment, including serum.” + + +X-RAYS FOR MALARIA + +An Italian physician, Dr. Antonio Pais, of Venice, has since 1916 +been successfully treating malaria by means of X-rays. This treatment +is, however, not employed as a substitute for quinine, but merely to +reinforce its action. The X-rays are directed toward the region of the +spleen, and the effect is to reduce its enlargement. At the same time +the composition of the blood is modified. The success obtained by Dr. +Pais has, according to the _Bibliothèque Universelle et Révue Suisse_ +(Lausanne), been so great that the Italian Government decided to +introduce his method of treatment into the military hospitals. + +Since the war the treatment has been studied by Prof. B. Grassi, who +made a report, at an Italian scientific meeting, in which he declared +the action of X-rays upon chronic malaria to be “truly marvelous.” The +_Bibliothèque Universelle_ says, regarding earlier treatments: + +“The attempt was made by them to destroy the parasite contained in the +spleen. But it is now known that the X-rays employed for therapeutic +action have no effect upon micro-organisms, although they may be +injurious to the elements of the blood. In the method devised by Dr. +Pais, the X-rays are employed to stimulate the functioning of the +spleen, of the marrow, and of the lympathic elements by means of +slight but prolonged excitation; they are employed in infinitesimal +doses—homeopathically, so to speak. Thus the result is absolutely +different as well as the method.” + +Dr. James B. Murphy demonstrated that accompanying cancer grafts on +immune animals there occurs a general increase in the circulating +lymphocytes and hyperplasia of the lymphoid tissue. When the lymphoid +tissue of immune animals was destroyed, the immunibility was annulled. +Two methods of increasing the lymphocytes have been found, namely, +diffuse small doses of X-rays, and dry heat. Mice with lymphocytosis +induced by these agents show Increased resistance to replants of their +own tumors. The results afford ground for hope of human application. +(Reported in _Scientific American Monthly_, January, 1920, page 96.) + +It has been found that actively growing tissue, whether normal +or pathological, is the most susceptible to X-rays, and it is +comparatively easy to sterilize a number of species of animals +without otherwise injuring them. (Prof. James W. Mayor, _Science_, +September 23, 1921.) C. R. Bardeen found that X-rays prevent worms from +regenerating lost parts. Observations of the effect of exposure to +X-rays on the fertility of animals were described in a paper by Prof. +L. H. Snyder of the North Carolina College of Agriculture. Exposure of +male rats to X-rays, he said, had rendered them sterile at the end of +two months, the animals regaining fertility when no longer subjected to +the rays. + +If not handled with due caution and skill, X-rays may do more harm +than good, provoking malignant growths as well as retarding their +development. As early as 1911, Otto Heese published a record of 54 +cases of cancer caused by means of improper handling of these powerful +rays. + +In the early days of X-ray therapy the nature and effects of these +radiations were wholly unknown. Operators did not hesitate to test +and adjust their tubes by throwing the shadow of their hands on the +flouroscope. X-rays do not make objects visible to the human eye, and +to see the effects of them it is necessary to interpose a special +screen between the eyes and object through which the X-rays are to +penetrate. The cardboard screen is coated with a fluorescent substance, +such as barium-platinum-cyanide, or calcium tungstate. This screen is +best placed in one end of a black wooden or pasteboard box, against the +other end of which the eyes are placed when in use. + +This screen under the influence of X-rays becomes luminous and enables +one to see shadows or silhouettes of objects of denser material +interposed between the eyes and the X-ray tube, when the tube is in +operation. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +MARTYRS TO RADIOLOGY + + +It was not until several years after the discovery of X-rays by +Roentgen, in December, 1895—after operators had been severely burned +in laboratories and hospitals all over the world, and surgeons and +physicians began to compare notes, that the pathological effects of +X-rays were discovered and understood. + +Says John Macy (in his memorial volume on Walter James Dodd, heroic +victim of 50 separate operations due to X-ray burn): + +“It is easy now to understand what was happening to Dodd and his +contemporaries. In a modern X-ray machine the strength of the current, +the quality of the spark, all the conditions, are determined by +metrical instruments. In the early days the operator tested his tube +and adjusted it by throwing the shadow of his hand on the fluoroscope; +by the look of the shadow he judged how the machine was behaving. First +he used the left hand until that became too sore, then the right. And +until devices were found to focus and confine the rays, the face of the +operator was exposed, and sometimes the neck and chest were burned. +A limited exposure to the X-ray is as harmless as a walk in the +sunlight. It is the repeated, continuous bombardment of the ray that is +calamitous. Dodd and the other pioneers lived in the X-ray.” + +John L. Bauer was the first victim of the X-ray, in 1906. He was +followed in 1914 by Henry Green, who, although he knew he was doomed, +and in spite of the fact that he had become almost helpless physically +because so much flesh had been cut away in amputating cancerous +growths, persisted in his work to the end. + +Major Eugene Wilson Caldwell of the Medical Reserve Corps of the United +States Army, the inventor of the Caldwell liquid interrupter and +other devices for therapeutic use, lost his life in 1918. Dr. Charles +Infroit of the Salpetrière Hospital, Paris, died on November 29, 1920. +One of Dr. Infroit’s hands became infected in 1898 as a result of his +continuous use of the X-ray, and an operation was performed. After that +he had 24 other operations, 22 of them performed in the last ten years +of his life, the last on August 1, 1920, when his right arm and left +wrist were amputated. + +Dr. Charles Vaillant, whose heroic services to humanity have made +necessary 13 amputations until now he is armless, on February 19, +1923, received from United States Ambassador Herrick the Carnegie +plaque, while the cravat of the Paris Gold Medal of the French Legion +of Honor was conferred upon the martyr. Physicians say further +amputations are inevitable, and that these will result in Vaillant’s +death. + +In 1921, the eminent English radiologists, Dr. Cecil Lyster and Dr. +Ironside Bruce, and Dr. Adolphe Leroy of the St. Antonie Hospital in +Paris, died martyrs to their noble profession. “All of these men went +knowingly to death. Perhaps they did not take their sacrifices in the +spirit of the saint, possessed by a vision of suffering humanity. +Theirs may have been the ardor of the scientist, the endurance of a +worker who hears the challenge of nature’s silence and goes to battle. +But in themselves they express the powerful urge of a spirit that longs +to see, to feel, to know, and to possess all the mysteries of the +universe. It is the same spirit that makes men rebel and agonize for +a better order of humanity. These men seem better than the world that +produces them. But each of them, when he dies, may pull the rest of +humanity a little closer to his level.” + +Dr. Frederick Henry Baetjer of Johns Hopkins Hospital has only two of +his ten fingers left. He lost the other eight as the result of burns +received in X-ray experimentation. + +Dr. Francis Carter Wood, X-Ray and radium expert of the Crocker Special +Fund Cancer Laboratory of New York, calls particular attention to +the fact that “the deaths which are occurring now are the results of +repeated exposures ten or more years ago, when no one knew what the +effect of the rays might be. The burns suffered then were the result of +continuous exposure without protection against the rays. One exposure, +or a moderate number of them, would do no harm; but before the present +perfection of the apparatus it was necessary to adjust the focus for +each picture, and the operator would do this by looking at his bare +hands through the fluoroscope. This resulted in chronic burns, and the +burned flesh formed a fertile soil for cancer. Lead one-quarter of an +inch thick will stop both radium and X-rays.” + +In Dr. Wood’s opinion, workers in X-rays today “need not suffer any ill +effects except through their own carelessness.” + +A discovery which promises to put an end to the dangers to life and +limb risked by those who engage in working with X-rays was communicated +to the Academy of Sciences of Paris as early as May, 1920. It is the +result of experiments by Dr. Pesch of the Faculty of Montpelier, who +himself is one of the sufferers from X-rays, and who has long been +seeking the means of protecting his young confrères. + +He found that deep red rays are antagonistic to the ultra-violet +rays which produce irritation and burning of the skin, and certain +oxidations. Thus, by the simultaneous application of both rays he +secures immunity for X-ray workers. He has already proved that erythema +can be prevented by the application of red rays. Daniel Berthelot, who +announced the discovery to the Academy, recalled that as long ago as +1872 the antagonism of extreme rays of the spectrum had been foreseen +by Becquerel in his study of phosphorescence. + +Dr. Pesch employs a filter composed of a plastic material that allows +only the red and yellow rays to pass. It is claimed that by means of +this filter not only are the X-rays made harmless, but its employment +effects a cure for radio-dermatitis, the affection which has maimed or +killed so many of the early workers in X-ray therapy. + +According to Dr. G. Contremoulins, Chief of the principal laboratory +of the Paris hospitals, whose researches and experiments were begun +in February, 1896, the usual methods of protection even today are not +always adequate. Says he (in _La Démocratie Nouvelle_, Paris, April, +1921): + +“Young radiologists, especially those born of the war, take no heed +of the experience acquired by their elders, being quite convinced +that the glasses, gloves and aprons containing lead offer a perfect +protection—they even imagine that strictly speaking they might get +along without them. + +“Like a child which hides behind a wooden door to shield itself from +the bullets of a machine gun, our young radiologists believe they are +safe when they have donned their gloves and examine their patients +behind a sheet of lead glass. But, unfortunately, these enable them +only to avoid those superficial skin affections caused by the most +absorbable rays of the spectrum. + +“But they receive, alas, those other radiations which are more +penetrating, and these slowly produce lesions of all the ductless +glands in the body, whose internal secretions we now know to be of such +vital importance in the bodily economy.” + +The modern employment of 200,000 volts under three milliamperes gives +rise to the need of great caution in the use of X-rays. Even the +health of persons in adjoining rooms or buildings, Dr. Contremoulins +believes may be imperiled. In the _Popular Science Monthly_ for +October, 1921, this veteran radiologist makes some startling +revelations. To quote a few passages: + +“In April, 1896, five months after the discovery of X-rays—or Roentgen +rays, as they are also named in honor of their discoverer—a pose of +eight hours was required for a correct radiograph of a profile head, +the tube being placed ten inches from the sensitive plate. + +“In April, 1921, a similar image was obtained in four hours at a +distance of 90 yards from the apparatus. This means that the radiation +with modern apparatus is more than 20,000 times stronger than was +possible in 1896. + +“With the very weak radiation that I have used for my experiments, +corresponding to the ordinary radiographic and radioscopic work, it has +been easy for me to obtain images of metallic objects and human bones +placed on a sensitive plate 15 feet from the radiating source, although +the rays pass directly through a slab of marble an inch thick, a sheet +of lead one-tenth of an inch thick, and a flooring eight inches deep, +built of oak boards and rough plaster. + +“Fifty feet from this same source I have been able in four hours to fog +a photographic plate placed behind a wall of brick and stone 20 inches +thick. Also in the same time I have obtained a correct radiograph +of a skull and a crab, 262 feet from the X-ray machine. All these +experiments were made with a 17-centimeter spark and two milliamperes +of current. + +“If photographic plates are so readily affected by these rays, we must +admit that animal cells also are affected to an appreciable degree. +The X-rays that are being used to cure a patient may at the same time +inflict radio-dermatitis on other persons exposed to their influence in +adjoining rooms or buildings. Nothing will suffice for safety but to +cover the walls and floors of X-ray rooms with sheets of lead from a +quarter to half an inch thick, according to the power of the source and +its distance from the lining.... + +“Biologic reactions from X-rays take two forms. The first is a skin +lesion known as radio-dermatitis, caused by the skin’s absorbing a +large quantity of radiations. The second results from the improvements +in X-ray tubes and the use of filters absorbing the radiations of +long wave length, currently named ‘soft radiation.’ This reaction +takes place deep beneath the skin upon the active cells that are the +most vulnerable. It is principally the internal secretion glands that +are affected. Among those who continually receive even weak doses, +a gradual lessening of vitality takes place, leading slowly to a +physiological impoverishment that inevitably carries them off sooner or +later.” + +Dr. Contremoulins was able to escape serious injury up to the outbreak +of the World War, but is now a victim of his services to wounded +soldiers. As a result of his efforts—and due also, partly, to suits +brought against a Paris physician by neighbors who alleged that their +health had been impaired, resulting (perhaps) in two cases of cancer—a +thorough-going investigation was undertaken by the French Ministry of +Hygiene. + +Dr. Declere of the Academy of Medicine presided over a committee which +included Mme. Curie, M. Becquerel, a radiologist; Dr. Vaillant and a +number of specialists. A leading member of the Academy said he did +not believe that X-rays menaced persons who did not come into direct +contact with them. + +“I intend to study the question by three methods,” he said. “First, we +shall make a purely physical examination, studying the action of the +rays and in what measure they exert themselves at certain distances. +Second, we shall experiment with the living tissues of rabbits, trying +various distances several hours a day and noting the effect on the +red and white corpuscles and glands of the animals. Then, since it +is impossible to make such experiments on human bodies, we shall +collect data based on 25 years’ experience with X-rays to see whether +physicians in close contact have been burned.” + +While X-ray treatment cannot be said to _cure_ a deep-seated cancer, +it is undoubtedly being given with highly beneficial results in many +cases, alleviating much suffering and retarding the growth of malignant +tissues. + +As is well known, tuberculosis can advance to a dangerous stage before +it exhibits physical symptoms recognizable by physicians. The X-ray +not only brings to light incipient consumption, but reveals the exact +place and extent of the lesion. Any abnormalities of the alimentary +tract, also, may readily be brought to view, as well as certain effects +produced on certain arteries, due to arterio-sclerosis or to angina +pectoris (a very painful form of heart disease). + +It has been well said that “the list of diseases, the presence and +extent of which are betrayed or confirmed by the X-ray, would fill +pages and would include most of the enemies to human health. Among them +may be mentioned many forms of tuberculosis, occult abscesses whose +ramifying consequences physicians were once unable to refer to their +source, tumors, cancers, kidney stones, gastric ulcers, diseases of the +heart.” + +The martyrdom of radiologists has not been in vain. + +In cases of emergency, X-ray diagnosis may now be given patients in +their own homes. A surgical X-ray outfit that can be carried in an +ambulance and taken to the bedside of a patient too ill for removal +to a hospital passed a successful trial in England, thus adapting an +emergency war-time arrangement to civilian use. A generator in the +ambulance operates the tube, which has a special mounting that enables +it to be placed over the patient’s bed, and adjusted for height and +position by hand-wheels. The control apparatus is mounted on a separate +stand, and connected with the ambulance outside by a cable wound on a +reel. Provision is made for developing the exposed plates at once, so +that a diagnosis can be made in a few minutes. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +DISCOVERY AND NATURE OF X-RAYS + + +In March, 1923, there passed from this world one of the most beautiful +exemplars of the true scientific spirit that earth has ever seen—Dr. +William Conrad Roentgen, F.R.S., Professor of Experimental Physics in +the University of Munich, the discoverer of X- or Roentgen Rays. + +Born at Lennep, on March 27, 1845, Professor Roentgen filled a number +of important posts before his death in 1923, in which year he was +awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics—an award which brought with it a +gift of $40,000. Although suffering from the poverty which resulted in +Germany as an aftermath of the World War, Professor Roentgen refused to +utilize the Nobel Prize award for his own personal uses. He gave the +entire sum to a research society to enable other students to carry on +their investigations. + +While occupying the chair of Professor of Physics and Director of the +Physical Institute at Würzburg, Dr. Roentgen made the discovery—in +1895—for which his name is chiefly known—though his researches led to +important advances in several other departments of physics. + +While experimenting with a highly exhausted vacuum tube on the +conductivity of electricity through gases, Dr. Roentgen noticed that +a paper screen covered with potassium platinocyanide—a phosphorescent +substance—which chanced to be lying nearby, became fluorescent under +action of some radiation emitted from the tube, which at the time +was enclosed in a box of black cardboard. Professor Roentgen then +found, by experiment, that this heretofore unknown radiation had the +power to pass through various substances which are impenetrable to +ordinary light-rays. He found that if a thick piece of metal—a coin, +for example,—were placed between the tube and a plate covered with the +phosphorescent substances, a sharp shadow was cast upon the plate. On +the other hand, thin plates of aluminum and pieces of wood cast only +partial shadows. + +Thus was it demonstrated that the rays which produced the +phosphorescence on the glass of the vacuum tube could penetrate bodies +quite opaque to ordinary light-rays. Like ordinary light, these rays +affected a photographic plate; but owing to their peculiar behavior in +regard to reflection and refraction, Roentgen was led to put forward +the hypothesis that the rays were due to longitudinal, rather than +to transverse waves in the “ether.” They will ionize gases, but +they cannot be reflected, polarized or deflected by a magnetic or +electric field, as are ordinary light-rays. (It has been shown that the +_scattered_ secondary rays show polarization.) + +Being in doubt as to the real nature of these penetrating rays, +Roentgen called them “X-rays.” + +In 1896 Professor Roentgen was the recipient of the Rumford Medal of +the Royal Society. This honor was shared by his compatriot Philipp +Lenard. Lenard was the discoverer of the rays emanating from the outer +surface of a plate composed of (any) material permeable by cathode +rays. By impinging on solids, the cathode rays (negative electrons) +generate X-rays. “Lenard rays,” which are similar in all their known +properties to cathode rays projected from the cathode of a vacuum tube, +do not emanate from the cathode. (Unlike the X-rays, cathode rays may +be deflected from their natural course along “straight lines” by the +application of a magnetic or electric field.) Professor Lenard, as also +Hertz, discoverer of the now well-known “wireless waves,” had already +demonstrated that a portion of the cathode rays could pass through a +thin film of a metal such as aluminum. + +When Roentgen rays (X-rays) are allowed to fall upon any substance, the +matter emits cathodic (or secondary Roentgen) rays. “The characteristic +secondary radiation may be compared with the phosphorescence produced +by ultra-violet light, and the cathodic secondary rays with the +photoelectric effect” (Sir J. J. Thomson).[2] + +The penetrating power (“hardness”) of these rays appears to be +determined solely by the nature of the elements in the emitting +substance. The velocity of the cathodic (or secondary Roentgen) rays +seems to be quite independent of the matter exposed to the primary +rays, but increases as the hardness (penetrating power) of the primary +Roentgen rays increases. + +The _character_ of the emitted rays, in brief, appears to be quite +unaffected by the chemical or physical condition of the element. +Red-hot iron, for example, exhibits the same characteristic Roentgen +radiation as iron at room temperature. But the _penetrating power_ +(hardness) of this characteristic (emitting) radiation increases +gradually and continuously with increasing atomic weight of the +emitting elements. The complete independence of the penetrating power +of the characteristic Roentgen radiation from external surroundings +indicates strongly that it is closely connected with the nature of the +nuclei (“cores”) of the atoms giving rise to it. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[2] When ultra-violet light is allowed to fall upon a metal it causes +the metal to emit electrons and thus to acquire a positive charge, the +velocity of the emitted electrons being exactly proportional to the +frequency of the incident light. Or when light of X-ray type falls +upon the surface of almost any substance, it takes hold of an electron +in the atoms of that surface and hurls it out into space with a speed +exactly proportional to the wave length of the light. This phenomenon +is known as the photoelectric effect. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +ULTRA-VIOLET LIGHT IN HEALTH AND DISEASE + + +That both the compound rays of ordinary sunlight and ultra-violet rays +(“artificial sunlight”) are highly effective in the treatment of a +number of complaints is now well known. They are both in general use +for the external treatment of rickets, tuberculosis, and a number of +other diseases. Light-rays are also applied to hasten the healing of +wounds. + +The use of the sun as a healing agent seems first to have been +developed in a scientific way by Dr. Neils R. Finsen, a young Danish +physician who was later awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine. His +original researches were undertaken toward the end of the 19th century. +Then Dr. Rollier opened the first sunlight clinic in 1903, and in 1910 +established his school at Leysin, in the Alps. Dr. Rollier is now +treating about 1,000 patients, mostly afflicted with various forms of +tuberculosis of the bone. The sun cure is also used to some extent for +pulmonary tuberculosis, and with considerable success. (See my _Man’s +Debt to the Sun_, Little Blue Book No. 808, Chapter IV.) + +According to Dr. Rollier, exposure of the diseased to the sun’s rays is +efficacious in the treatment of anemia, malnutrition, bone and gland +infections and various types of tuberculosis, and is a body builder for +convalescents. On the outskirts of San Rafael, California, is a novel +sun sanitarium, Helios Sanitarium, modeled after the Alpine sanitaria +of Dr. Rollier. + +Two investigators have recently studied the comparative germ-destroying +power of the blood in healthy and ill persons, before and after +exposure to sunlight. It was found that the germ-killing power of the +blood was increased when the sun bath lasted for a certain length of +time. It was shown that too long or too short an exposure decreased the +blood’s power. It was decreased also in patients who had fever. Several +other conditions were found to influence the results. Physicians +believe that several points of practical value may emerge from these +experiments. One important and useful result is that they offer a new +method to guide and gauge the effects of treatment in tuberculosis and +other diseases. + +The practice of X-ray treatment (since 1910 included under the more +general term _radiotherapy_) includes treatment not only by X-rays, +but also by all kinds of rays—treatment by heat, by the sun’s rays, by +ultra-violet rays, and even by violet rays. The rays of radioactive +substances used in medicine come under the etymological term of +radiotherapy. But in general practice, amongst radiologists, the term +is applied to treatment by X-rays alone. Nevertheless, it is now well +established that the ultra-violet rays are not only bactericidal, but +that they also play an important role in the treatment of certain +diseases, and in the maintenance of good health. On the other hand, +these rays produce a certain irritability among persons of the white +race in the tropics, which cannot be regarded as healthful in their +general effects. + +Since the amount of ultra-violet light coming from the sun has been +shown by Abbott to be variable, it may be that some of the irritability +which seems to be general among the inmates of our public institutions +on certain days is due to this change in the sun’s outpour of +ultra-violet radiation. As Dr. E. E. Free remarked not long ago: + +“Put these facts together. Ultra-violet rays affect life. The amount of +ultra-violet coming from the sun is variable. Does this mean that some +of the obscure, day by day variations of health can be due to this? +Some days everybody seems happy and cheerful. Other days everybody +is depressed. Still other days are breeders of ‘nerves.’ Maybe the +ultra-violet does it. Maybe not. Doubtless the investigators will find +out presently.” + +Recent experiments at the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station, +conducted under the direction of Dr. John W. Gowen, have led to the +important discovery that milk from cows that have been treated with +ultra-violet light, from mercury-vapor quartz lamps, contains a much +larger amount of the substance—presumably a vitamine, or vitamines—that +prevents rickets in children and young animals. At any rate, it was +found that the milk from cows deprived of sunlight and ultra-violet +light was quite deficient in the anti-rachitic factor. Animals and +birds fed on the sunless milk uniformly developed rickets. + +The Holstein-Friesian cows used in the experiments were of nearly the +same age and calving date and all received like treatment as to feed, +temperature, etc., and stood side by side in the same barn. “Throughout +the treatment,” says Dr. Gowen, “these cows did not leave the barn. For +one month none of the cows received ultra-violet light. For the second +month two cows received ultra-violet light 15 minutes a day, generated +from a Cooper-Hewitt alternating current light at three feet above +their backs. For the third month these cows received ultra-violet +light for 30 minutes a day under the same conditions. In the meantime +Rhode Island Red chickens were allowed to develop rickets, shown both +clinically and by X-ray photographs. They were divided into two lots, +one lot of these chickens receiving milk from the ultra-violet cows, +the other of two lots of chickens, milk from the control cows. Both +lots received all the milk they wished. + + The chickens have now been under treatment 50 days. The lot receiving + milk from cows exposed to ultra-violet light are in good condition + with no appearance of rickets in X-ray plates. The lot receiving + normal milk has moved progressively toward more extreme clinical + and X-ray rickets. The experiment was repeated, using the milk from + these same cows on White Leghorn chickens showing clinical and X-ray + rickets. Five chickens were in each lot. After 38 days’ treatment four + of the lot receiving milk from the ultra-violet cows are almost cured + of rickets, showing only a very slight stiffness. The fifth chicken + shows some stiffness. Four of the lot receiving the normal milk show + constantly increasing symptoms of the more advanced stages of clinical + rickets. + + These results point to the conclusion that more of the substance + necessary to cure rickets is absorbed by the cow exposed to + ultra-violet light and secreted by her in her milk. The cows + prevented from receiving ultra-violet light are not able to secrete + this anti-rachitic substance in sufficient quantities to cure or + allay the process of clinical rickets. The results thus point to an + environmental factor transmitted by the cow to her offspring through + the medium of her milk. They further suggest that the high incidence + of rickets in children during the late winter months is due to their + mothers not receiving ultra-violet light either during pregnancy or + while in lactation. Furthermore, it would appear that cows’ milk + produced especially for baby-feeding should be from cows which have + access to ultra-violet light either from the sun or from some other + source. + +Dr. C. C. Little of the University of Maine, and his associates, fully +demonstrated the value of sunlight to animal life through experiments +on a flock of 233 chicks. The chicks were divided into three groups and +all were given the same diet. One group was kept in natural sunlight, +the second was kept in sunlight that went through window glass, and +the third was given both natural sunlight and extra ultra-violet rays +produced artificially. The last class grew the best. The class that got +only natural sunlight grew normally. The class kept behind window glass +all developed bone disease. The glass of the greenhouse allowed the +light of the sun and the heat of infra-red rays to get through. But it +screened out the ultra-violet waves. + +The beneficent effects of invisible ultra-violet rays are seen in +both the organism exposed to them and the food consumed. This is true +whether the rays come direct from the sun or by means of a quartz lamp. +Ordinary glass lamps prevent the ultra-violet rays from passing out. +But not all kinds of foodstuffs by any means are favorably affected by +the rays. Only those foods which contain fat seem to be materially +improved. The value of milk and of cod liver oil is greatly enhanced by +exposure to the rays. Dr. Benjamin Kramer has been highly successful in +treating babies affected with rickets by subjecting milk itself to the +action of ultra-violet light.[3] + +As early as 1923, it had been shown by feeding experiments with +various types of animals at the University of Wisconsin that sunlight +was acting either directly upon the animal or upon its food. The +same dietary was found to produce contradictory results. It was +established—especially by H. Steenbock and E. B. Hart—that sunlight is +indispensable to man and beast, in that it is the determinant of the +efficiency with which calcium can be assimilated and retained. (See +their report, _Journal of Biological Chemistry_, Vol. 62, page 577, +1925.) Calcium, it is pointed out, needs to be conserved because in +proportion to the body needs it is not found abundantly in foods and +feeds. Steenbock and Hart tell us that sunlight plays the particular +rôle of conservator “by virtue of its content of ultra-violet +radiations of approximately 250 to 302 millimicrons in wave-length, +but unfortunately these are not present in sufficient degree to provide +a wide margin of safety for the animal. As a result we have rickets +in the young and poor dentition, restricted lactation, abortion and +impoverishment of the skeleton in lime to a dangerous extent in the +adult.... The ultra-violet rays bring their effect through the medium +of certain compounds widely distributed in plant and animal tissue, so +that practically any foodstuff can be ‘anti-rachitically’ activated. +‘Make hay while the sun shines’ is more than a mere poetic slogan, +for hay made in the dark is devoid of rickets-preventing properties” +(_Science_, December 4, 1925). + +The careful experiments of J. S. Hughes showed that chickens receiving +a standard scratch feed and mash, supplemented with sprouted oats and +buttermilk, developed rickets (weak legs) when deprived of direct +sunlight. Chicks receiving the same feed but given sun baths developed +normally, although they were confined in a very small pen, with little +opportunity to exercise. Light from ordinary electric bulbs had very +little, if any, beneficial action. Light from the Hereus mercury arc +lamp was very beneficial. Cod liver oil also proved to be effective in +preventing rickets in chickens as in mammals.[4] + +That such fats as olive oil and lard may be activated by exposure +to ultra-violet rays and used as a substitute for cod liver oil in +the treatment of rickets is evidenced by experiments reported by the +Department of Agricultural Chemistry of the University of Wisconsin. +In the series of experiments now published, olive oil and lard were +exposed to the action of the ultra-violet rays from a powerful +mercury-vapor quartz lamp, for periods of time ranging from half an +hour to 17 hours. + +After exposure to the rays these fats were fed to a group of +experimental rats in which rickets had been produced, and the activated +olive oil and lard were found to have the same beneficial results +that follow the administration of cod liver oil. The weight of the +rats increased and an analysis of the bones showed an increase in the +calcium content. + +Some of the activated olive oil, which had been stored in a stoppered +bottle, showed no change in potency ten months later. It was found +also that the fats might be activated by the rays from the open carbon +arc, the iron arc, and sunlight; but that exposure for such prolonged +periods as 17 hours destroyed their potency. This destruction took +place even on cod liver oil.[5] + +It has long been known that human tissue is more actively changed by +light when it has been “sensitized.” Quinine, esculin, fluoresceine, +etc., are examples of tissue sensitizers, in addition to their +other effects. The most powerful of all known sensitizers is +haemato-porphyrin—or simply “porphyrin.” This sensitizer is a purple +substance closely allied to the haemoglobin that gives blood its red +color. Subtracting its iron and albumin from haemoglobin by appropriate +chemical processes leaves porphyrin. This substance reacts strongly to +the ultra-violet rays, in rare cases causing a disease which turns the +teeth to a deep purple hue. Victims of this uncommon ailment have to +wear gloves constantly, and when going out of doors during the day time +must put on heavy veils.[6] Porphyrin is capable of dissolving the red +corpuscles of the most dissimilar animals in the presence of sunlight. +But neither the haemato-porphyrin nor the light alone is capable of +injuring the animals. Only the combined effect of the two can harm +them. A physician experimentally injected an exceedingly minute +quantity into himself and then exposed himself to a moderate light, and +became very ill. + +Hausmann found that even the diffused sunlight of an early spring +day in Vienna was sufficient to cause the death of white mice which +had been subjected to small quantities of this strange substance. +Dr. E. C. Van Leersum, of Holland, proved by experiments with rats +that the utilization of lime by our bodies can be controlled almost +at will by this “sensitization” process. Rickets, or a condition +indistinguishable from rickets, can be produced or cured by proper +control of the sensitization. + + +SUNLIGHT AND INFANTILE PARALYSIS + +An article by Science Service, quoted in _Science_, September 11, 1925, +says: + + Another of the dreaded diseases of childhood, infantile paralysis, + which, like rickets, graduates large quotas of cripples, has responded + to the good influence of the sun’s rays. Dr. G. Murray Levick, medical + director of the Heritage Craft Schools at Chailey, Sussex (England), + who originated the treatment, said that no other method has ever had + as good results as this in the treatment of infantile paralysis. + + Dr. Levick first deduced that neurasthenia in grown-ups and rickets + in the young are due to the same cause. Both these diseases, he + claims, are nutritional disturbances of the nerve centers affecting + the bones in the young, and the nervous systems in the old. The action + of sunlight on the skin forms a substance which is carried into the + blood and feeds the nerve centers as well as the bones. His success in + treating neurasthenia with sun’s rays led him to apply it to cases of + infantile paralysis, a disease which is a severe shock to the nervous + system and which results in muscular atrophy. Under the action of + sunlight a renutrition of nerve centers takes place. + + Synthetic sunlight produced by him with an electric arc light of his + own invention proved as good as natural sunlight, and could be better + regulated to the patient’s endurance. He used two distinct kinds of + light-rays, the short ultra-violet rays for nerve nutrition, and the + long red and infra-red rays for muscle treatment. Red rays, as can + be seen when the hand is held up against the sunlight, penetrate + the flesh to a considerable extent, and can therefore stimulate the + sleeping muscle. + + Dr. Levick warns that immediate success must not be expected. He has + found constant improvement where short daily treatments were continued + over a period of several years. While the method may not be effective + in extreme cases, it is nevertheless a test which will soon show after + a few treatments whether any rejuvenation of the nerve fiber is taking + place. + +It is now admitted that the (red) heat-waves may play some part in +heliotherapy—exposure to direct sunlight for medical purposes. Dr. +Lazarus-Barlow, Professor of Experimental Pathology in the University +of London, concludes that even though heat-rays may also play some +part in curative processes, “experience of the treatment of wounds by +sunlight in France during the World War indicated that a degree of +benefit arises from exposure to sunlight which cannot be attributable +to warmth and ultra-violet rays. On the other hand, in the Finsen light +treatment of lupus (a tubercular affection of the skin of the face, +occurring in several forms) and in the treatment of tuberculosis at +high altitudes, ultra-violet rays play a predominant part.” + +As the ultra-violet rays penetrate but a fraction of a millimeter into +the epithelium, “it is uncertain how the rays act.” The suggestion is +here ventured that since the recently discovered Millikan Rays are +particularly powerful under the same conditions that make application +of the ultra-violet rays practicable as a therapeutic agency, it may +later be found that these highly penetrating rays, of exceedingly short +wave length, aid greatly in effecting some of the cures now attributed +wholly to the longer (and less penetrating) ultra-violet rays or the +much shorter X-rays.[7] + +Professor Lazarus-Barlow calls attention to the fact that it is +precisely those tubercular persons who tan easily who are said to +derive the greatest benefit from a sojourn at high altitude. + +Very remarkable is a recently adopted machine which “pours ultra-violet +light through a funnel down the throat of a patient.” The new +apparatus, first used in London, is employed for treatment of various +mouth and throat diseases, “thus making it possible for patients to +take internal baths of artificial sunlight” (_Science_, February 26, +1926). + +In England, where the sky is so often overclouded, it is natural that +much attention has been given to ultra-violet ray therapy. A recent +press dispatch tells us: + +“London recently had 23 consecutive days on which no beam of the sun +could force its way through the mantle of cloud and fog which spread +over that section of England. Now the Britons are making artificial +suns that may be available for both indoor and outdoor illumination. +Arc lights throwing powerful ultra-violet rays are being installed in +beauty shops and hotels, and patrons are given opportunity to bathe +their bodies in this brilliance. These rays are being billed as more +potent than sun baths, and citizens who have small chance to see the +orb of day get their sunshine and their medicine at one swoop.” + +Two Indian scientists, S. S. Bhatnagar and R. B. Lal, of the University +of the Punjab, Lahore, discovered in 1925 that germs grow faster +when exposed to “polarized” light than to ordinary light. (Ordinary +light—according to the undulatory theory—is due to vibrations +transverse to the direction of the ray, but varying so rapidly as +to show no particular direction of their own, the fronts of the +light-waves crisscrossing at all angles. When, by any means, these +vibrations are given a definite direction, the light is said to be +_polarized_, the fronts of the waves being all arranged in the same +direction, though the path of the rays may be plane, elliptical, +circular, or rotary, according to the method of polarization employed.) + +The Indian experimenters took cultures of the germs of typhoid fever +and cholera, and exposed one set to ordinary light, and another to a +beam of polarized light. The latter multiplied much faster than did the +germs under ordinary light. + +It was demonstrated in 1925 by Dr. Elizabeth S. Semmens, of Bedford +College, London, that the digestion of starch takes place more readily +under polarized light than in ordinary light. + +Prolonged exposure to the ultra-violet rays will destroy any germs +known to science. (Cathode rays—which are shorter than ultra-violet +rays—will kill not only germs, but insects as well, by means of a +device developed by Prof. W. D. Coolidge.) + +“Bacteria,” says Dr. Coolidge, “have been rayed, and an exposure of +a tenth of a second has been found sufficient to kill even highly +resistant bacterial spores. Fruit flies, upon being rayed for a small +fraction of a second, instantly showed almost complete collapse, and in +a few hours were dead.” + +This may lead to the application of cathode rays as a germicide, but +their effect on higher forms of life shows that their unskilled use +would be most dangerous. For example, Dr. Coolidge relates: + +“The ear of a rabbit was rayed over a circular area one centimeter +in diameter for one second. After several days a scab formed which +fell off a few days later, taking the hair with it. Two weeks later a +profuse growth of snow-white hair started which soon became much longer +than the original gray hair. Another area was rayed for 50 seconds. In +this case, scabs developed on both sides of the ear, which scabs later +fell out, leaving a hole. The edge of this hole is now covered with +snow-white hair.” + +A very interesting problem to scientists relates to the question as +to whether or not insects are color-blind. It may be that we now have +at least a partial answer to this vexed question, and in terms of +ultra-violet radiations. + +Dr. Frank E. E. Germann, of Cornell University, calls attention to some +recent experiments which show conclusively that at least one kind of +insects (flies) have a range of vision in the ultra-violet, just as +we have in the visible spectrum. It was also made “perfectly evident +that flowers do have their characteristic ultra-violet radiations” +(_Science_, March 26, 1926, page 325). It is due “to our own egotism +that we call the insect color-blind.” + +A given type of insect might in reality be visiting flowers of the +same color as far as it was concerned, while to us it appeared to +be visiting flowers of all colors. “Might not two flowers, one red +and one blue, both give out the same group of wave lengths in the +ultra-violet, and thus be identical in color to an insect seeing only +the ultra-violet? Moreover, what is to prevent two different kinds of +red flowers from giving out two entirely different sets of wave lengths +in the ultra-violet, and thus appearing to have entirely different +colors to an insect?” + +In a very real sense, science is only at the beginning of the +discoveries it will yet make in its investigations of the nature and +action of ultra-violet, cathode and X-rays. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] It is interesting to note in this connection that Kuzelmass and +McQuarrie have suggested that oxidation of cod liver oil gives rise to +ultra-violet radiation. (See _Science_, September 19, 1924.) + +[4] Paper read before the 66th meeting of the American Chemical +Society, held in Milwaukee, Wis., September 10th to 14th, 1923. + +[5] Dr. Harriette Chick and her co-workers of the Vienna University +Child Clinic discovered, first, that the action of cod liver oil on +the bone-lesions of rickets has an exact parallel in that of the +ultra-violet rays of sunlight, or of the rays from a mercury-vapor +quartz lamp; and, second, that the oil and the rays were effective +substitutes the one for the other. See my _Man’s Debt to the Sun_, +Little Blue Book No. 808, page 49. + +[6] The only creature that has porphyrin as part of its normal +body-covering is a tropical bird called the touraco, parts of whose +feathers are dyed a brilliant red by a porphyrin-copper compound known +as turacin. This pigment is remarkable also because it seems to be the +only normal occurrence of copper as a coloring compound in feathers or +skin. Turacin is soluble in weak alkali, so that when it rains and the +bird comes into contact with such alkaline solutes as frequently occur +in nature, the turacin bleaches out! Although porphyrin is rare as a +normal coloring in adult animals, it is the commonest pigment found in +the shells of birds’ eggs. Almost all eggs, from the hen’s brown to the +robin’s blue, contain it. + +[7] The length of the very short X-rays was accurately determined by a +new method developed by Compton and Doan in 1925, and was found to be +about three billionths of an inch. + + + + + Transcriber’s Notes + + pg 19 Changed: In March, 1923, Dr. I. Seth Hirsh + to: In March, 1923, Dr. I. Seth Hirsch + + pg 42 Changed: unable to refer to their soure + to: unable to refer to their source + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75150 *** |