The Dominion. TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 1914. SCIENCE & UTILITY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1956, 13 January 1914, Page 6

The Dominion. TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 1914. SCIENCE & UTILITY.

The very encouraging results attained at the Middlesex Hospital in the treatment of cancer by radium, announced in recent cablegrams, give justification for the hone that medical science will eventually be able to very materially limit the ravages of this terrible disease. _ It is, no doubt, still too early to claim that an absolute euro has been discovered, but the statements made by Sir Thomas Barlow and Sir Alfred Goulb . indicate that radium treatment has been attended by a very consider' able moasuro of success. Experience has already shown that radium is able to check, and even destroy, certain malignant growths, and for some timo past careful experiments hare been made with the oojept of testing its effect on cancer. Various "cures" of this disease have been announced from time to time, but none of them appear to have been able/to fulfil the claims made on their bcAalf, and tho general bpinion of experts until lately has been that the only way of dealing effectively with the trouble is by the use of tho surgeon's knife. Responsible British doctors are extremely cautious about raising expectations which cannot be fulfilled, and when one occupying such a high posi-. tion as that held by Sib Thomas Barlow declares that "unprecedented" results havo been achieved, by the application of radium, it may be taken for granted that a very real advance has been, made in tho loog campaign that -' has been waged against cancer. The Prussian Ministry of Education recently made large grants to the University clinics at Berlins Halle, and Kiel, to enable them to procure radium for the euro of cancor, and the Berlin correspondent of tho London Times stated a few. months ago that it has been found possiblo to apply ray treatment with great success to diseases of women as well as to cases of cancer. Radium is now being used by medical men in all parts of the world, andi somo striking results are reported to have been achieved in New Zealand as well as in other countries. . ;

The discovery of radium is'a'fine illustration of how the mirsuit-;bf knowledge from a purelv' scientific nr. in I; ;f view Ill's proved of-tho grs-Vit-;

; .e sK'p rac ti cn l.i bene fit"' Jo the. -liuhi ari hnca. .Wke d!^Madamb;! Ci; Ri e' :-. fii/lk9S\s:K'ca:dcd ; 'iii. isulathig from I tho.Eiiiineral ipitehbleiide'rcompoiinds ib fla rfcacf'i.yej(rie we. 1e mo • ; v;»ie sijnp!y:fMi(leavo'uringr..to extend ■ .humah t khbwlcdge^a , nirvH'o''s : 'niostfun'|' likely:,-th.U'i they. ever, imagined ihnl;ihei rediscovery: wasidestjnecKtoVliave ' ■^veryiimpb'^^ .pibgio?s;' of medical.jscsence. -.-The -'trjie '"anxi.ousMbbufttheVpracUcal?iitility'of' I -Ho.-believes.in .science for <its®pwh?sake.*;.' 1 This7simple : 'desire ;to know'/'without caring wfiether itwill result in tilling empty: pocket;; or satisfying hungry stomachs.-has play-' ed arwonderful part.iri.-the'tadrftnce-ment'of '.thc human-race ;and. in making "the fbvorld'a-bette.r ; i'place> to; live in. It has been' the inspiration of a noble; army of philosophers, scientists," and explorers; and_ though they have laboured with a single eye to the extension of knowledges the. practical advantages of their, work havo been' incalculably great. - : People of narrow vision may Jook.; upon pure science as a -useless prying "into the secrets of Nature, which is not worth the time 'and' money - expended upon it; but even from tho utility point ■■ of view '■' the most unlikely ' ■ branches; :of research often prove of far-reaching value. Captain 1 Scon's recent voyage tothe. South Pole may have no immediate commercial results, nor .is it likely to have any direct bearing on the pressing problems of social and industrial life which are at present occupying so much attention; but who will say that the journey and its attendant hardships were not worth while, or that the lives ,of those brave men tvere merely thrown away? Dabwin carried on his life work without, troubling himself about its practical value, and Newton's discovery of the law of gravitation had fto effect .on . the money market. Yet these men arc rightly: "numbered among the greatest .of our race.' 111 ' ■" ■

Nevertheless, the persistent- question of the so-called practical man "What is the good of it ?" ia not entirely without justification, for after all . "science is for life, not life for science," and it is well that the student should be reminded from time to time of the life problems of the millions of ordinary men and women who are living and dying in the jjreat world beyond the four walls ot his study. Bat even from the most utilitarian standpoint it is doubtful if any real knowledge can be definitely set aside as valueless. When the rontgen rays were first discovered most' people regarded them as little more than one of Nature's curiosities, but their application to surgery has proved of immense benefit to mankind; and now radium, which was at' first looked upon by the average man as a kind oi scientific plaything, may possibly go far to exterminate cancer. In discussing the utility of science, Professor J. A, Thomson remarks that "the twitching of the legs of Oalvani's frogs was studied as a theoretical curiosity; who could have told that it pointed to telegraphy?" A similar point was made a few days ago by Mn. J. EversHEd, Director of the ICodaikanal_ Solar Observatory, when speaking about the Solar Observatory which is to be established in New. Zealand. In answering his own question as to what is the good of such institutions, he remarked that'"'they are no. use at all. At least," he went on'to say,", "the idea that they , aro useful now. is very farfetched, although in the distant future they may yet prove to bo of same practical utility." The first thing is to learn the secrets of Nature, and leave it to time and further research to prove whether they are useful in the narrower sense of the word or not. No one can speak on this point with more authority than Lord Kelvin, who, in addition to being a master of theoretical science, knew how to utilise his discoveries for the benefit of mankind. _ Ho has placed on_ record the opinion that considerations regarding its application to the ordinary purposes c-f life was not the proper object and end of science. "Nothing could more effectually stop the advancement of knowledge," he writes, "than the prevalence'of such views; even the desired practicallii useful discoveries would not be made-if researches obnoxious to the fatal question citi bono (for whose benefit?) were to be uniformly avoided." ■' ■