X-RAYS: A SUGGESTION.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 909, 31 August 1910, Page 6

X-RAYS: A SUGGESTION.

Many people will sympathise deeply with the unfortunate man suffering from leprosy, who, as announced in yesterday's issue, has had to bo sent from Wellington to Quail Island (in Lyttelton Harbour) to remain there probably as a life-long exile. It is a distressing fate for a man in the prime of life and having a wife and family depending on him; but society is compelled to protect itself in such cases, and the' comfort of the individual must give way to the welfare of the community. Every instinct of humanity, however, insists that everything possible should be done to make the lot of these unfortunate people as comfortable as possible, and nothing should be left undone that might cure or alleviate their sufferings The latest Sydney papers state that a man., has been completely cured oi cancer in the hospital by the radium treatment, and recent medical works announce that the X-rays—whose effects are similar to those of radium —have in certain instances apparently cured leprosy: Time alone, in such cases, can provide the real test. It has been suggested, how-' ever, that it would, be money .well spent if. some wealthy philanthropist presented a dynamo and X-ray .apparatus to the unfortunate inhabitants of Quail Island. An ordinarily intelligent man could easily be taught to make proper use of the apparatus, and in addition to its curative possibilities it would help to give hojje and. interest to lives .that must in the_ nature . of things be surrounded with the gloom of despair. If the operator took the necessary precautions, and under instructions made careful notes regarding the cases treated, he might, in the course of time, be able to tabulate information .of great value to mankind. No one at present knows the full possibilities: of the X-ray treatment of human ills, and it is in diseases such as' leprosy, cancer, and skin troubles that the best results' are expected. The cost of an X-ray plant would be about £200. The suggestion is, perhaps, worth the " consideration of -, the Health Department.'