The Work of Mme. Marie Curie When asked what she would choose if the whole world were at her feet, Madame Marie Curie, the now famous discoverer of radium, replied, "A little radium with which to carry on further experiments." Her unhesitating reply carries a world of meaning, first regarding this precious force which has been released from nature, and second regarding the woman whose name will not die with the 20th or any succeeding century.
Twenty-five years ago radium was absent from the vocabulary of the world. Men were paid to carry away from the uranium mines in Bohemia thousands of tons of reddish lumps which, unknown to miners and contained the most valua in the world. But in a meagre little Paris laborato in two figures, Marie Curie and her husband Pierre, could be seen working quietly and patiently at their ro torts, tubes, boilers and vats. Nothing daunted they persevered, aided by a few workmen and the money of people of faith. Early in 1898 their effort was rewarded by the discovery of the most potent force yet known to man.
Radium is the quintessence of power. One gramme (about a thimbleful) of the precious stuff contains energy sufficient to raise a 28,000-ton battleship 100 feet in the air. The luminous quality of radium which makes objects treated with it visible in the dark is the most well-known, but not the most important property. It is widely used (as widely as the limited supply of 60 grammes now in existence will permit) in the treatment of eye trouble, cancer, and skin diseases. It was an invaluable asset to surgeons during the war, and in this work Madame Curie aided indefatigably.
The source of radium the is pitchiblende yr uraninite of Saxony and Bohemia, the carnalite of Colorado, the autunite of Portugal and Tonkin, and certain other minerals of Madagascar, Cornwall and a few other places. The quantity usually supplied to physi cians in little lead tubes. (for radium passes with case through anything except lead or steel) is 100 milligrams. To produce this tiny amount are required 10 tons of ore, three tons of hydrochloric acid, five tons of carbonate of soda, one ton of sulphuric acid, and 10 tons of coal: and before the radium is released and ready for use the various products must} her own hands the highly special-be crystallized no less than 5004ized work in radiography,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.