Australian Medical Journal
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AUSTRALIAN MEDICAIL JOURNAL. 975 USTRALIAN RADIUM. 7 representing the Australian specimen, and as 19 is to 27 when the interceptor was a mild leaden MAN LA \V'1: I? NCR. ALR.C. l'., Ëdiu. one, both experiments at a distance of 14 inches from the electroscope. Hon. Dermatologist, St. V incent's Hospital.) It will be a great help to Australian medical men About two months ago Mr. Jones, managing di- if a local supply of therapeutical radium is obtain- rector of the Radium Hill Co., South Australia, able, and as there is now such a great demand sent a ten milligram specimen of radium bromide to abroad for radium. on account of its being used in me, asking me to examine same therapeutically. In the treatment of inoperable malignant growths and order to compare the result of the therapeutical likewise being applied after operations for cancer, action of this specimen with the therapeutical ac- tion of a :to milligram specimen of pure radium 'bromide (imported), I took for one experiment a case of generalised psoriasis, the patient having numerous small spots and patches of psoriasis, more or less bilaterial and symmetrical, situated on the sides of the body and on the arms and legs. I had the specimen of Australian radium applied to four or five spots upon the left arm, giving 15 minutes exposures, and imported specimen applied to simi- lar spots upon the right arm. The time of exposure and preparation of the specimens were exactly simi- lar. In the same way, spots were treated upon the left side and left leg with the Australian specimen, several exposures of thirty. forty and sixty minutes being made; and similar exposures both as re- gards time and preparation Of radium specimen were made upon the right side. :All spots thus treated with Loth specimens cleared np in much about the same time, and by making examinations twice a week for three weeks, I was able to make a comparative examination as regards the reaction of the times acted upon by the different specimens of radium. No. 2.—Radiograph taken as in above I also treated cases of keratoses, rodent ulcers, illustration. epithelioma, lupus eryt:hematous, chronic patches of lichenification, and some other chronic condi- etc., in order to try and prevent a recurrence of the tions of skin trouble,. with this specimen of Aus- disease, there should be plenty of demand for all tralian radium, and the results have been very satis- that can be produced in Australia, and as I under- factory. stand the radium carrying ore exists in large quan- Professor kyle, of the Melbourne University, tities, it may yet be a valuable export. kindly made a comparative examination of these The accompanying illustration shows the pene- specimens for me with the electroscope, and the re- trating power of the specimen of :Australian radium. sults of this examination showed the Australian 'l'he photograph shows the specimen placed upon an iron weight (4 lbs.). this was placed over a penny and key. which were laid upon a negative plate as shown in the ph o tograph. The second illustration shows the radiations from the specimen have produced a radiograph of the key and penny. In a similar way I recently took a similar radio- graph through five of these iron weights, making - a column of six- and one-half inches of iron. The radium used being about too milligrams of im- ported radium. No. 2.—Australian specimen of radium placed upon iron weight. I understand Professor Pollock, of the Sydney University, has found that the specimen of Aus- tralian radium bromide submitted to him for ex- specimen was within about five to ten per cent. of amination gave a radioactivity equal to 94 per the imported specimen as regards its radioactivity. cent. when compared with the specimen of pure - My own examination with the electroscope gave, radium bromide (imported), and in use at the with mica interception of the rays, as 7 is to 8y. Sydney University. 976 AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL JOURNAL. April 5, 1913. Whilst Dr. Alurphy always has a long list of CHICAGO: DR. MURPHY'S CLINIC. operations, he did not get through anything like the number of operations that many other surgeons did. But to the visiting surgeon there is ample \V ^ . 1\10OIL E , M.D.. M .S. compensation. In the first place he goes fully into the cases-on which he is going to operate, and he discusses the steps of the operations. Further, he \ly remembrances of Chicago are not all shows patients on whom he has operated weeks or pleasant. I reached the great city the first months before. This is most instructive, as it time On a Saturday morning after a dreadful night gives the visitor who is only going to remain a few journey from Rochester. No one knew the hotel days a chance of seeing results in cases similar to I wanted, so I had to go to one I knew nothing of, and struck the wrong one, a large crowded, inhu- sonic that he is witnessing and the results of which he would very much like to know. I)r. Murphy's man hotel, in a crowded, busy part of the city. list on my first visit was However, Saturday was one of Dr. Murphy's clays, and I found my way to the Mercy Hospital, but I. Acute appendicitis. Dr. Murphy was not there, and the man who was 2. Neurofibroma of breast. there had no interest for me. I went back into the 3. Pyloric obstruction—gastroenterostomy. city, but I found it unendurable. Chicago was the 4. Fracture and luxation of neck of humerus. first great city I had ever been in, excepting Syd- 5. Anchylosis of knee—arthoplasty. ney, and it is much larger than Sydney. The rush 6. Metastatic Neisserian arthritis of knee (Inj.) of traffic seemed simply terrible, the din of the 7. Gastric ulcer—gastroenterostomy. overhead railways, the rush of the street cars or 8. Recto-vesical fistula. trams, and the motor and other vehicular traffic 9. Multiple arthritis. got so much on my nerves that I began to think I to. Abscess of broad ligament. alight get killed or lose any wits I had, so I de- II. Subacute gastric ulcer—gastroenterostomy. cided to leave Chicago the same clay as I entered it. 12. Tuberculosis of knee. When I returned I was a more experienced travel- 13. Carcinoma of cheek. ler: I had been in Philadelphia and in New York, 14. Anchylosis of elbow—arthroplasty. and London was quite familiar to nie; so, although This list is put on a board, and I did not see it there is no place quite as big and important as until Dr. Murphy had been talking for some time; Chicago, I was not so overawed, and I took up then it amused me. It was rather formidable for my quarters at the Congress Hotel on Michigan one man to get through in one morning. He did Avenue, and determined to see things through. It the first four in order, and by then he had done a was on Tuesday morning, and 1 did not employ that fair thing. He then showed to cases that had been day very profitably ; but I found out that L)r. Cooke operated on previously, and at the end injected two Adams was not in town, and I located the P.O., a knees with formalin in glycerine. railway station and several hospitals, at one of Dr. Murphy's remarks whilst doing the case of which I unfortunately learned that Dr. Bevan, to appendicitis were interesting, and they are typical whom I had a letter from Dr. Crile, was in New of his talk. "A rise in temperature is a manifesta- York. tion of the absorption of material, not of the pre- 'l'he next morning (Wednesday) I went to the sence of pus." "A chill indicates the presence of a Mercy Hospital, not a bad tram ride, to see Dr. germ that quickly gets into the circulation through _Murphy, and this time there was no mistake. 'I'he the lymphatics—a streptococcus—with such a germ amphitheatre is very large, it would seat some you do not get gangrene. "Sometimes symptoms hundreds, and though the attendance was good, do not correspond, e.g., here there was no rise in there was always a tremendous amount of wood temperature; when such is the case examine the urine, as a stone passing along. the ureter gives exposed to view.. Here on the three occasions on which I was present I never managed to get a very much the sane symptoms as appendicitis." "The leucocyte count is important." "Make your diag- good seat, though Iwas always able to see fairly well. Dr. Alurphÿ is a tall, elderly man, remind- nosis and operate on your diagnosis" (don't be try- ing to minutely differentiate the pathological con- ing me a little of Professor Watson, of Adelaide, and 1 could easily imagine Professor Watson talk- dition, "Diagnosis is more certain in the first 24 ing to a crowd in much the same way as Dr. Mur- hours and operation is safer in the first 24 hours." phy did. He is thin and somewhat round-shoul- 1 le made his incision through the rectus sheath; covered any raw area about the appendical stump; dered, and wears a short greyish moustache and he everted the peritoneum by using a kind of run- beard. He talks much and well. His voice is ning mattrass suture.