economy in information

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-in this country, and Prof. Stewart has found in theliterature only 25 other examples which gave rise toclinical symptoms. Nearly all occur either in theneighbourhood of the spheno-occipital synchondrosisor in the sacrococcygeal region. Benign and malig-nant forms are known and the latter are usually of slowgrowth and, though they recur after excision, generalmetastasis is quite exceptional. Histologically, thetumour is alveolar in arrangement : the cells of theparenchyma are epithelial in type and early undergoa mucoid change in the cytoplasm which ultimatelyprogresses to an extreme degree. Some clear illustra-tions and a copious bibliography complete a smallmonograph which should lead to the recognition offurther instances of this interesting condition.

ECONOMY IN INFORMATION.

WE learned with regret that the Neu’ ZealandJournal of Health and Hospitals, published at Welling-ton, was discontinued after the issue of December,1921, " as a result of the necessity for economy inall Government undertakings at present." In anannouncement of the impending doom the editorhas laid just claim to fulfilment of a useful purposein circulating amongst the health authorities of theDominion morbidity statistics and figures relating toinfectious diseases throughout New Zealand, togetherwith information concerning hospital administration,and news of health activities in other countries.Through public libraries and by means of quotationsin the daily press the Journal has also conveyedinformation concerning health and personal hygieneto the general public. Elsewhere in our columns wefluote from one of the last issues figures relating tothe supply of medical men in the Dominion of NewZealand which afford an example of the usefulnessof this short-lived organ of public health, which itis hoped may be resuscitated at some future date.In the meantime it might be possible for the NewZealand Medical Journal, which appears every twomonths and is circulated among medical men andothers, to undertake more general health propagandain the Dominion.

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THE FINAL GEDDES REPORT.

THE third and final instalment of the report of theCommittee on National Expenditure, which appeared 1on Feb. 21th. contains the welcome recommendationthat the proposed grant of .S130.000 to the MedicalResearch Council should not be cut down. Asregards the smaller grants, the Committee writes :" 18,’e are averse from an arbitrarv and uniformreduction on a percentage basis on the ground thatthe saving to the Exchequer would be small comparedwith the detriment which would be caused to theactivities of the learned and scientific world." Wehave little doubt that public opinion will be foundfully to endorse the Economy Committee’s judgmentin this matter.

THE next social evening at the Royal Society ofMedicine will take place on March 8th, when Mr.James Sherren will deliver a short illustrated addresson Sailing Ships and the Men Who Sailed Them.

THE death is announced of Dr. Alfred Hill, formerlymedical officer of health and city analyst of Birming-ham, and professor of chemistry and toxicology atQueen’s College. He was 95 years of age and hadbeen living in retirement at Freshwater, LW’.

AMONG the 15 candidates selected by the Counciluf the Royal Society for election are the names ofDr. C. G. Douglas, Fellow and Lecturer on NaturalScience at St. John’s College, Oxford, who has donemuch work on the physiology of respiratory exchange :Captain S. R. Douglas, Director of Bacteriology atthe National Institute of Medical Research ; and Prof.Vl. S. Pembrey, Lecturer in Physiology at Guy’sHospital.

1 H.M. Stat. Office. Cmd. 1589. 4s.

REPORT OF THE

RADIUM INSTITUTE, LONDON.TEN YEARS’ EXPERIENCE.

THE annual report of the Radium Institute, London,for the year ending Dec. 31st, 1921, has just beenissued and is the subject of comment in a leadingarticle in the present issue of THE LANCET. Wereproduce here two sections which are completein themselves.

Radium Emanation.

The employment of radium emanation as a thera-peutic agent is steadily increasing, and its field ofusefulness broadens from day to day, as its merits andadvantages become more widely recognised. Themanipulation of the emanation is a highly technicalprocess, and necessitates the attention and services ofa staff of specially trained physicists, whose measure-ments of its initial radio-activity, and its subsequentvariations can be relied upon absolutely. There isfurther the fact that the emanation can onlv beobtained from solutions of radium salts ; the quantityis limited, and bears a strict ratio to the amount ofthe parent salt. A gramme of radium bromide insolution will furnish a daily output of radium emana-tion possessing a radio-activity equivalent to that of150 mg. of radium bromide. This emanation slowlydecays, its initial radio-activity being reduced toone-half in 3-85 days, and to one-fifth in 8-8 days.During the first 24 hours the loss is exactly 16 per cent.(2 per cent. every three hours). This rate of decaynever varies, and it is thus a perfectly simple matterto prepare an apparatus the mean activity of whichduiing a period of 24 hours would be exactly equiva-lent to that of a radium salt apparatus of a statedstrength.As the present market price of radium bromide is

about 15,000 a gramme, and at least two grammesare necessary for the production of emanation insufficient amount to treat even a modest number ofpatients daily, it is obvious that the handling ofradium emanation in a really adequate manner canonly be undertaken at hospitals or institutes whichare in a position to incur a very large capital chargein acquiring the requisite amount of radium salt; andon this account, unless the price of radium falls veryconsiderably, it appears highly probable that emana-tion work will for a long time be limited almostexclusively to those institutions which already havea large amount of radium, and a specially trained staff.The Radium Institute is fortunate in possessing boththese requirements, and its facilities for radiumemanation work, both physical and clinical, are

unrivalled in this country.Radium emanation may be employed for therapeutic

purposes in three ways :-1. By 7)</M!aKoM.&mdash;This method obtained a great vogue

on the Continent in the years immediately preceding the war.Most of the spas and bathing establishments were providedwith radium emanatoria, luxuriously equipped buildingscontaining rooms the air of which was refreshed from timeto time with small quantities of radium emanation andoxygen, or radium emanation only.The patients undergoing the treatment were immured in

these rooms for periods of three, four or more hours daily,during which time they breathed the emanation charged air.This method of treatment made slight headway in theBritish Isles, and it now appears to be but little favouredon the Continent.Extravagant claims were made as to its therapeutic value

in the treatment of widely differing forms of disease, butthese have been only poorly substantiated by subsequentclinical observation, and it is an open question whetherthe greater proportion of the cures announced were not dueas much to the power of suggestion as to the physical effectsof the radium emanation.

2. By Ingestion.--Radium emanation is dissolved inwater, and administered to patients daily for periods of 6, 9,or 12 weeks or longer. The strength of the solution furnishedby the Radium Institute is 2 millicuries per litre, and of this,patients take 250 c.cm. during each 24 hours.