Ask the Scholar
Page 3 of 3
I can add historical knowledge about this page.
Page image
OCR
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI
COLUMBIA
JAN 11.1992
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY
January 8th, 1932.
Mr. H. H. Barker
United States Radium Corporation
535 Pearl Street
New York City
My dear Barker:
After writing you hastily from Elgin we went
on the next day to Chicago. A dense fog and rain prevailed
during most of our return trip but we got home safely.
While our experiments at Elgin gave us what
we consider very reliable and gratifying results, the ex-
periments we conducted in Dr. John's office in Chicago, the
same place where you and I made our tests, were not very
successful, due to a very anomalous behavior of the instru-
ments, both gamma and emanation chambers. We discovered
these irregularities soon after lunch. The natural drifts
of our instruments were fluctuating and gradually increas-
ing. We finally decided that these irregularities were due
to the presence of radium emanation in the atmosphere of the
laboratory. By a few experiments we definitely established
this fact. Therefore, the results obtained on Dr. John's
patients were simply qualitative in character.
Upon our return to Columbia we at once set
about to improve the natural drift of our instruments and
we also calibrated the emanation chambers. These will be
ready very shortly for return to Dr. Flinn. I think that
both chambers will probably be in better condition as far
as insulation is concerned than they were upon their arrival
here; at least I hope that Dr. Flinn will think so.
The Wulf-Hess gamma ray instrument, however,
has developed an increased natural drift. I have treated
the instrument now in various ways, hoping to reduce the
natural drift; we have been only partially successful. The
natural drift is still about forty to fifty per cent higher
than it was at Elgin. It is still quite low nevertheless,
.0007 divisions per second; at one time last fall it was
down to .00043, and that was the average at Elgin.
We asked Dr. Read at Elgin not to supply us
with the dosages of radium until we have made a report of
our findings. We hope that in this way the element of un-
conscious influence on our experiments will be entirely
eliminated. We expect to prepare a report very soon, but
in order to make the readings with the gamma ray instru-
ment quantitative we must do a little work on calibrating
the instrument.
UNIVERSITY OF missouri
COLUMBIA
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY
Barker-2-1/8/32
I wonder whether you have on hand the
electrostatic capacity of the gamma ray instrument which
was used by the Public Health Service and also the voltages
which correspond to the scale readings. We have these data
for our instrument and if we had the same data for the in-
strument used for your measurements we would probably be in
position to calculate a calibration constant for the gamma
ray instrument.
The next series of experiments which will be
undertaken at the Elgin State Hospital have been assigned
to Dr. J. D. Neranzi. These experiments will be taken up
with about twelve to twenty patients afflicted with high
blood pressure. Dr. Neranzi told me that he would continue
the administration of radium chloride until the total do-
sages of each patient would be over one hundred and perhaps
up to two hundred micrograms.
The expenses of our trip were very modest;
we went by car and our oil, gas, car service, hotel bills,
and board, for the two of us were about $65.00.
We were pleased indeed to hear that you are
probably going to pay us a visit toward the close of this
month. We shall be ready with a new collection of antique
glass toys and other antiquities.
Sincerely yours,
Hermandchlundt Herman
Herman Schlundt.
hs.as
Page data
- Page
- 3
- Source index
- 0
- Type
- document
- Media ID
- 249df7796185812f
- Size
- unknown
Document data
- ID
- 75726838
- Core
- doc
- Type
- document
DTO data
{
"id": "75726838",
"sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75726838",
"contentType": "document",
"title": "Letters Received to H.H. Barker, January 8, 1932",
"citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75726838",
"collections": [
"Safety Light Collection",
"Records Related to Radium Dial Painters"
],
"iiifBase": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/SLC/Radium/SLC_0002573_Page_1.jpg",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/SLC/Radium/SLC_0002573_Page_1.jpg",
"largeImageUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/SLC/Radium/SLC_0002573_Page_1.jpg",
"imageCount": 3,
"hasImages": true,
"source": "import",
"hasTranscription": false
}
Context sent to Scholar
Document identity
{
"localId": "75726838",
"label": "Letters Received to H.H. Barker, January 8, 1932",
"core": "doc",
"dtoType": "document",
"citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75726838"
}
Document source metadata
{
"id": "75726838",
"sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75726838",
"contentType": "document",
"title": "Letters Received to H.H. Barker, January 8, 1932",
"citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75726838",
"collections": [
"Safety Light Collection",
"Records Related to Radium Dial Painters"
],
"iiifBase": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/SLC/Radium/SLC_0002573_Page_1.jpg",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/SLC/Radium/SLC_0002573_Page_1.jpg",
"largeImageUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/SLC/Radium/SLC_0002573_Page_1.jpg",
"imageCount": 3,
"hasImages": true,
"source": "import",
"hasTranscription": false
}
Document source extras
{
"url": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75726838",
"naId": 75726838,
"levelOfDescription": "fileUnit",
"recordType": "description",
"ocrSource": "nara-archive"
}
Page context
{
"seq": 3,
"pageIndex": 0,
"type": "document",
"url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/SLC/Radium/SLC_0002573.pdf",
"mediaId": "249df7796185812f",
"ocrText": "UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI\nCOLUMBIA\nJAN 11.1992\nDEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY\nJanuary 8th, 1932.\nMr. H. H. Barker\nUnited States Radium Corporation\n535 Pearl Street\nNew York City\nMy dear Barker:\nAfter writing you hastily from Elgin we went\non the next day to Chicago. A dense fog and rain prevailed\nduring most of our return trip but we got home safely.\nWhile our experiments at Elgin gave us what\nwe consider very reliable and gratifying results, the ex-\nperiments we conducted in Dr. John's office in Chicago, the\nsame place where you and I made our tests, were not very\nsuccessful, due to a very anomalous behavior of the instru-\nments, both gamma and emanation chambers. We discovered\nthese irregularities soon after lunch. The natural drifts\nof our instruments were fluctuating and gradually increas-\ning. We finally decided that these irregularities were due\nto the presence of radium emanation in the atmosphere of the\nlaboratory. By a few experiments we definitely established\nthis fact. Therefore, the results obtained on Dr. John's\npatients were simply qualitative in character.\nUpon our return to Columbia we at once set\nabout to improve the natural drift of our instruments and\nwe also calibrated the emanation chambers. These will be\nready very shortly for return to Dr. Flinn. I think that\nboth chambers will probably be in better condition as far\nas insulation is concerned than they were upon their arrival\nhere; at least I hope that Dr. Flinn will think so.\nThe Wulf-Hess gamma ray instrument, however,\nhas developed an increased natural drift. I have treated\nthe instrument now in various ways, hoping to reduce the\nnatural drift; we have been only partially successful. The\nnatural drift is still about forty to fifty per cent higher\nthan it was at Elgin. It is still quite low nevertheless,\n.0007 divisions per second; at one time last fall it was\ndown to .00043, and that was the average at Elgin.\nWe asked Dr. Read at Elgin not to supply us\nwith the dosages of radium until we have made a report of\nour findings. We hope that in this way the element of un-\nconscious influence on our experiments will be entirely\neliminated. We expect to prepare a report very soon, but\nin order to make the readings with the gamma ray instru-\nment quantitative we must do a little work on calibrating\nthe instrument.\nUNIVERSITY OF missouri\nCOLUMBIA\nDEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY\nBarker-2-1/8/32\nI wonder whether you have on hand the\nelectrostatic capacity of the gamma ray instrument which\nwas used by the Public Health Service and also the voltages\nwhich correspond to the scale readings. We have these data\nfor our instrument and if we had the same data for the in-\nstrument used for your measurements we would probably be in\nposition to calculate a calibration constant for the gamma\nray instrument.\nThe next series of experiments which will be\nundertaken at the Elgin State Hospital have been assigned\nto Dr. J. D. Neranzi. These experiments will be taken up\nwith about twelve to twenty patients afflicted with high\nblood pressure. Dr. Neranzi told me that he would continue\nthe administration of radium chloride until the total do-\nsages of each patient would be over one hundred and perhaps\nup to two hundred micrograms.\nThe expenses of our trip were very modest;\nwe went by car and our oil, gas, car service, hotel bills,\nand board, for the two of us were about $65.00.\nWe were pleased indeed to hear that you are\nprobably going to pay us a visit toward the close of this\nmonth. We shall be ready with a new collection of antique\nglass toys and other antiquities.\nSincerely yours,\nHermandchlundt Herman\nHerman Schlundt.\nhs.as"
}