The Response of the Animal Organism to Repeated Injections of an Active Deposit of Radium Emanation: Intravenous Injections in Dogs

Abstract

Following intravenous or subcutaneous injections of an “active deposit” of radium emanation, the writer found (1) in the case of white rats, that pathological changes had resulted in the liver, kidneys, spleen, bone marrow, etc., of these animals; and since the methods employed in these experiments were being used in the treatment of certain types of human cancer, it was decided to run a parallel set of experiments on a larger animal, the dog, and therein to determine the severity of the physiological reactions. To this end a complete urine analysis was made each day, before and after the treatments; frequent blood counts and differentials were made; the temperature and weight reactions were recorded, and finally a histological study was made of the organs removed at autopsy. This experiment was undertaken in collaboration with Miss Ruth Theis of the chemical department of the Memorial Hospital. We will report elsewhere on the detailed findings of the urine analysis, and mention of them will be made in this paper only in so far as they aid in the interpretation of what might be called the general clinical aspects of the problem (2).