Ask the Scholar

{
    "localId": "75724111",
    "label": "Letters Sent to Dr. Herman Schlundt, April 17, 1929",
    "core": "doc",
    "dtoType": "document",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75724111"
}

{
    "id": "75724111",
    "sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75724111",
    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Letters Sent to Dr. Herman Schlundt, April 17, 1929",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75724111",
    "collections": [
        "Safety Light Collection",
        "Records Related to Radium Dial Painters"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/SLC/Radium/SLC_0001727.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/SLC/Radium/SLC_0001727.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/SLC/Radium/SLC_0001727.jpg",
    "imageCount": 2,
    "hasImages": true,
    "source": "import",
    "hasTranscription": false
}

{
    "url": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75724111",
    "naId": 75724111,
    "levelOfDescription": "fileUnit",
    "recordType": "description",
    "ocrSource": "nara-archive"
}

{
    "seq": 2,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "document",
    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/SLC/Radium/SLC_0001727.pdf",
    "mediaId": "60129c767a2d5ab0",
    "ocrText": "April 17th,1929.\nDr. Herman Schlundt,\nUniversity of Missouri,\nColumbia, Mol\nDear Dr. Schlundt:\nThe following is copy of a telegram we sent you this\nafternoon:\n\"HAVE YOU TESTED EXCRETA FOR THORON\"\nI don't doubt but what you have given consideration to\nthis phase of the problem, but it was the only outstanding point in your\nletter of the 15th, which was not covered.\nI am equally as surprised as you are at the nature of\nthis result, and am not fully convinced that the alpha ray activity observ-\ned may be ascribed to polonium and RaD, although if there is no radium or\nmesothorium present I guess we would have to assume that the activity was\ndue to polonium and RaD.\nYou will recall from my letter of November 14,1928, giving\nyou the experimental data on the excreta in the Dunn case, that we observed a\nnet discharge as high as 0.11 div/sec, for specimens of 1/4 and 1/2 gram.\nThe activity of the Fryer caseis approximately 1/10 of that of the Dunn girl,\nand it would seem that there should be no difficulty in detecting the radium\nin her excreta if it was there in proportion to the Dunn case.\nAll of our\ndeterminations were made by the by-sulphate fusion method, and it is our\ncustom to add a small amount of barium chloride to all determinations where\nwe are not assured that the radium present is amply protected by barium.\nThis procedure, I believe, should be followed out in all radium determinations.\nI don't believe there would be any possibility of the radium\ndepositing upon the walls of the flasks, thereby becoming non-emanating.\nI trust that you have sufficient samples to conduct further\nexperiments to determine if there is any mesothorium present in the excreta,\nas well as making radium determinations by the bi-sulphate fusion method.\nI hope to see Dr. Flinn in the next few days and will tell\nhim of the progress you are making in this work. The electroscopes in\nDr. Flinn's possession have not been calibrated as yet, but we hope to do this\nthe fore part of next week. Albrecht has been very busy on some other\nmatters for the past date or ten days, and I have not felt that we could spare\nhim to do this work.\nWe are advised that the Wylf-Hess electrometer has arrived\nfrom Germany, and will be delivered to us in the course of the next few days.\nSincerely yours,\nHHBarker:BH\nVice President."
}