Transcriber’s Note: Italics are enclosed in paired _underscores_; subscripts are indicated by a single underscore: H_2O. Superscripts are indicated by a caret symbol: 10^9. When a superscript is longer than one character, it is enclosed in curly braces: 10^{-11}. Additional notes will be found near the end of this ebook. LITTLE BLUE BOOK NO. 1000 Edited by E. Haldeman-Julius The Wonders of Radium Maynard Shipley HALDEMAN-JULIUS COMPANY GIRARD, KANSAS Copyright, 1926, Haldeman-Julius Company PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA THE WONDERS OF RADIUM CONTENTS Page I. Introductory 5 All Matter Radioactive 9 II. Everyday Uses of Radium 16 Radium Makes Gems Blush 18 A Radium Clock 19 III. Radium and the Age of the Earth 21 IV. An Epoch-Making Discovery 30 How Radium is Converted to Lead 34 V. Radium in the Treatment of Cancer 45 VI. Efficiency of Radium in Treatment of Various Diseases 51 VII. Where We Get Radium 55 New Sources of Radium 58 The Radioactive Disintegration Series 60 Uranium I Series 63 Uranium Y Series 63 Thorium Series 64 THE WONDERS OF RADIUM CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY It has been well said that a general idea of what radioactivity signifies is a necessary part of the education of every intelligent person, since “it is the one thing of paramount importance in the chemical and physical science of the day.” But its importance extends much farther, since radioactivity is now employed in many departments of industry, as well as in biology and medicine.