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copy sent to Dr. Hinn 11/10/20
December 8th,1928.
Dr. Herman Schlundt,
University of Missouri,
Room 110 New Chemistry Bldg.,
Columbia, Mo.
Dear Dr. Schlundt:
The package containing the reports of the work which you
did while in New York, as well as letter and expense account have been received,
and I have not acknowledged them prior to this due to the fact that I have
been out of town considerably of late.
We wish to assure you that we appreciate the time that you
gave us to do this work, and also appreciate your contributing a part of your
time for this work at no charge, as well as a reduced charge for the rest of
the time.
I have read the reports rather superficially, but have not
made a critical study of them as yet. There is one thing, however, which
strikes me rather forcibly, and that has to do with the method of testing the
expired air. As we have discussed, the amount of radon freely emanated
is excessivly high in all of these cases, and in view of this condition, I
don't feel altogether satisfied with the method of collection of air for test.
It seems to me that where a subject has to force the air through the long
chain prior to reaching the electroscope that the breath is very far from
normal, and that the radon expired under such conditions is not necessarily
a true representation of that which would be expired under more normal breath-
ing conditions.
It may be that we would not find any difference, but I will
not feel entirely satisfied until such time as it has been established that
breathing normally, that is into a Douglas Bag, and then transferring the air
from the bag to the ionization chamber, gives the same result as breathing
directly into the electroscope. It seems to me as though where one respires
under abnormal conditions there is a chance for a general cleansing of the
circulatory system which might mean an abnormally high amount of radon was
being eliminated.
Perhaps the tests which you have under way at Mo. may throw
light upon this subject.
Dr. Flinn sent me a copy of a letter addressed to you under
date of November 27th, reporting data on a case recently examined by him.
I saw Dr. Flinn the other day, and he called my attention to the fact that he
had received from you an interpretation of this data, and that you had reported
approximately 4 micrograms by the gamma ray method, and .5 of a microgram by
-2-
the expired air method. I have this morning made my own calculations, based
on Dr. Flinn's data, and while my figures virtually check yours on the gamma
ray method, I am unable to check them with regard to the expired air.
The net discharge for the expired air, I find to be approximate-
ly 0.0057 div/sec, which multiplied by the constant of the instrument, 7 x 10-9,
gives 40 x 10-12. Assuming that the amount of air contained in the chamber
would be expired in 18 sec. the amount per sec. would be 2.2 x 10-12 curies.
The amount of radium required to liberate the radon equivalent to this value
would be approximately 1 x 10-6 curies or one microgram.
Will you kindly check this data over, and see wherein our
difference lies?
Sincerely yours,
Vice President.
HHBarker: RH
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"ocrText": "copy sent to Dr. Hinn 11/10/20\nDecember 8th,1928.\nDr. Herman Schlundt,\nUniversity of Missouri,\nRoom 110 New Chemistry Bldg.,\nColumbia, Mo.\nDear Dr. Schlundt:\nThe package containing the reports of the work which you\ndid while in New York, as well as letter and expense account have been received,\nand I have not acknowledged them prior to this due to the fact that I have\nbeen out of town considerably of late.\nWe wish to assure you that we appreciate the time that you\ngave us to do this work, and also appreciate your contributing a part of your\ntime for this work at no charge, as well as a reduced charge for the rest of\nthe time.\nI have read the reports rather superficially, but have not\nmade a critical study of them as yet. There is one thing, however, which\nstrikes me rather forcibly, and that has to do with the method of testing the\nexpired air. As we have discussed, the amount of radon freely emanated\nis excessivly high in all of these cases, and in view of this condition, I\ndon't feel altogether satisfied with the method of collection of air for test.\nIt seems to me that where a subject has to force the air through the long\nchain prior to reaching the electroscope that the breath is very far from\nnormal, and that the radon expired under such conditions is not necessarily\na true representation of that which would be expired under more normal breath-\ning conditions.\nIt may be that we would not find any difference, but I will\nnot feel entirely satisfied until such time as it has been established that\nbreathing normally, that is into a Douglas Bag, and then transferring the air\nfrom the bag to the ionization chamber, gives the same result as breathing\ndirectly into the electroscope. It seems to me as though where one respires\nunder abnormal conditions there is a chance for a general cleansing of the\ncirculatory system which might mean an abnormally high amount of radon was\nbeing eliminated.\nPerhaps the tests which you have under way at Mo. may throw\nlight upon this subject.\nDr. Flinn sent me a copy of a letter addressed to you under\ndate of November 27th, reporting data on a case recently examined by him.\nI saw Dr. Flinn the other day, and he called my attention to the fact that he\nhad received from you an interpretation of this data, and that you had reported\napproximately 4 micrograms by the gamma ray method, and .5 of a microgram by\n-2-\nthe expired air method. I have this morning made my own calculations, based\non Dr. Flinn's data, and while my figures virtually check yours on the gamma\nray method, I am unable to check them with regard to the expired air.\nThe net discharge for the expired air, I find to be approximate-\nly 0.0057 div/sec, which multiplied by the constant of the instrument, 7 x 10-9,\ngives 40 x 10-12. Assuming that the amount of air contained in the chamber\nwould be expired in 18 sec. the amount per sec. would be 2.2 x 10-12 curies.\nThe amount of radium required to liberate the radon equivalent to this value\nwould be approximately 1 x 10-6 curies or one microgram.\nWill you kindly check this data over, and see wherein our\ndifference lies?\nSincerely yours,\nVice President.\nHHBarker: RH"
}