RADIUM PRODUCTION.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 518, 27 May 1909, Page 5

RADIUM PRODUCTION.

—-—©-_ A LODE RICH IN OXIDE OF URANIUM. FOUND IN PORTUGAL. (m Tiunntrn-ri'itßss Assm'm'ms-rai'TiilonT.l (Rec. May.26, 10.35 p.m.) . London, May 26. Mr. T. H. V. Bowers, an Australian engineer, has discovered -near Guarda,' in Beira provinco, Portugal, a lode containing 50 per cent, of oxido of uranium, which is superior to pitchblendo for tho purpose of producing radium. - '' " ' : : ■".' V A British syndicate has secured the control of the Portuguese, properties. SIR F.TREVES AND THE RIDIUM INSTITUTE.

HE PREDICTS INCREASED SUPPLY. Such a find as thai reported in. the cablegram bears, of course,. directly on the extension of our knowledge and amplication of the ourativo properties cud commercial uses of radium. Sir Frederick Treves, the; eminent surgeon, has taken the load in tbo founding in London of a Radium Institute, the object of which is to investigate cures bj radium, and to treat patients, poor people.being treated free.

Cheap at its Weight in Gold. In the course of an interview/ Sir Frederick Treves produced a tiny phial about an inoh and a half long and a quarter of an inch in diameter containing .£BOO worth of radium. "If radium ever' sank to being worth its weight in gold," Sir Frederick remarked, "it would be exceedingly cheap." ' A small article about'an inch square on which the substance was spread represented a value of .£360. Yet this fact does not-awe the. great surgeon. He remarked: "As tothe supply of radium, we do not anticipate'any difficulty in getting all we. require. -Tho real reason for me small amount'in existence'is that there is so very little demand for it. 'As soon as the demand increases,. so will the supply. Of that wo can be sure. No doubt it will be produced in Cornwall/There is a good deal of pitchblende there, from which it can be extracted. Tho Radium Institute.may very likely causo the demand to go up.' Muoh depends on the result of our researchers' experiments and investigations. . ' > •..■•" Cures that have Happened. "'...- "I believe myself that the utility of radium is likely to be very great: I have seen moles removed by it. I have watched'-it. cure, a' naovus (mole or birthmark) the 6izo of a gooseberry on a baby's head; an'angioma (tumour) on, a "girl's-eyelid as big as a plum. Portwine stains can bo cured by it. Even lumps under the skin yield to it. Four weeks' treatment dispersed one as largo as a hen's egg. Rodent ulcers of a certain type may also Tio 6Uocessfully treated. ' , "At the same time, although we know that radium does these things, welmown very littlo else about it. Its Elective power is marvellous. It aots upon certain tissues and leaves others unaffected. But we dw not understand why. Say you have a lump in your arm. Your arm is exposed to radium rays. Tho lump is obviously reached and acted upon by them. It disappears. Yet the skin and bono ■ and muscle are not affected at all. We have'got to do a great deal of research work before we can explain radium action, or define its limits, or tell exactly what diseases it will cure. More Radium, More Cures. ; "One very remarkable quality of it we have already discovered. This is, that the larger tho amount of radium used'the'greater is the effect produced. It may at present be regarded as almost limitless in power. Do jou follow me? What I mean is that tho greater the bulk you have of it the more speedily you can effect' (fares, and tho more difficult cases can bo attacked. This is not true of tho Xrays, for example, or of tho Finson Light. AVo know their (imitations. Those of radium have yet to be found out." : . So the Portuguese find, if it realises its promise, is a big factor for progress.