A MARTYR TO SCIENCE.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIII, Issue 9112, 3 April 1908, Page 5

A MARTYR TO SCIENCE.

No Civil List pension was ever more deserved than that which has been granted to Dr. Hall-Enwards, of Birminghaam. When the X-rays were discovered Dr. Edwards was one of the first to realise their use in surgery; indeed it is said that the first operation with which the rays were connected was based on a photograph by him. He went to South Africa, and did most .valuable work in the war, but soon after his return to England found that the mysterious rays to which he had so often been exposed, produced warts on his fingers. These spread and became continuous sores. The pain was of a neuralgic nature, and continuous sleep was impossible. Sometimes lie had to leave his bed and wander about the house in agony. Yet his chief thought was of his work.. He found that a certain treatment, which caused him intense pain, made his fingers more pliable, and he endured it simply to continue his investigations. Latterly the disease became more malignant, and spread along the mft arm, and sleep was only possible by the i use of opiates. A few weeks ago the bone was found to be diseased, and the arm had to be taken off. In spite of his sufferings, Dr. Edwards stuck to his work, and a day or so before the operation used the rays in four cases. A singular feature of the case is that the disease appears to be cancerous, for the rays are undoubtedly most valuable in the treatment of superficial cancers. A number of similar cases are on record, but few have been so serious as that of Dr. Edwards. “The one cheering thought in the mind as one contemplates the martyrdom of so many Of those who have brought the X-rays to their present uses, is that they have their reward in the knowledge of the suffering they have relieved’’ says a writer in the Daily Mail. “Set their pains against the thousands of cases which are treated and cured yearly by the healing rays, and they are but as a drop compared with an ocean. Numberless homes bless the men whose patient, courageous handiing of this unknown and dangerous agent has turned it to the services of mankind.” Fortunately, means of protection have been discovered, and the rays may now be handled with safety.