JF Ptak Science Books Quick Post
In researching the highly-unexpected mage of a thorium inhaler found in Scientific American for 1904 and trying to find out why someone would inhale the radioactive and toxic gas (discovered by J.J. Berzelius in 1829), I found an article with three transporting sentences that lifted themselves from the page:
"Small glass tubes containing radium bromide are placed
within accessible mucous cavities, i.e., mouth, vagina."
"Radium and thorium continually emit gases, which gases
themselves give out on their own account rays exactly
similar to the rays from radium and thorium themselves.
Hence a thorium inhaler is now used, by which these gases
are inhaled."--The Journal of the British Homoeopathic Society, vol XII, new series, London 1904.
Of course the scientific and medical world was trying to figure out what applications could be made with the new discoveries of Roentgen and the Curies and Becquerel and all, but even with the modern lens looking backwards it still is a bit of a wincing experience to read about these applications.
Pressing on from the quacky homeopathy journal I found another in the Medical Record which more fully explained the apparatus and treatment:
"Thorium in TubercuIosis. Dr Soddy of London and Professor Rutherford of Montreal have suggested the use of thorium inhalations for tuberculosis. Certainly from its antiseptic and antifermentative actions it would appear to be a desirable agent to apply directly to the tissues affected in the fight against the tubercle bacillus."
[Note: M. Curie and Gerhard Schmidt determine and demonstrate that thorium is radioactive in 1897-8; Soddy and Rutherford discovered thorium X in 1902.]
The note continues:
--Medical Record: A ... Journal of Medicine and Surgery, edited by George Frederick Shrady, Thomas Lathrop Stedman; New York, William Wood, 1904, Volume 65, page 128.
Another short description of the work of the inhaler:
"The procedure leaves in the lungs a fine film of radio active matter which in turn produces the phenomenon of induced radio activity in the same parts which may last for one or two days. This is shown by the patient after inhaling thorium emanations exhaling on a photographic plate which produces the ordinary effects on the silver salts..."--Mihran Krikor Kassabian,Röntgen Rays and Electro-therapeutics: With Chapters on Radium and Phototherapy, New York, 1907, page 508.
That is a tough go.
The Wiki article on thorium has this to say about more than standard/casual exposure to thorium: "Natural thorium decays very slowly compared to many other radioactive materials, and the alpha radiation emitted cannot penetrate human skin. As a result, owning and handling small amounts of thorium, such as those in a gas mantle, is considered safe, although usage of such items may pose some risks. Exposure to an aerosol of thorium, such as contaminated dust, can lead to increased risk of cancers of the lung, pancreas, and blood, as lungs and other internal organs can be penetrated by alpha radiation. Exposure to thorium internally leads to increased risk of liver diseases."
It is not known to me how much of a dose of thorium was intended for the user of this cure.
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