URANIUM IN THE TREATMENT OF LUPUS: A PRELIMINARY NOTE. NORMAN
WALKER. (_The Scot. Med. and Surg. Journ._, September, 1904, p.
207.)
The method of applying the uranium which was adopted by the writer was
to prepare an oxide of uranium from the nitrate, incorporate it with a
negative base such as bees-wax, and spread this on leather to form a
plaster of the usual thickness and the required extent. The plaster is
enclosed in waxed paper gummed at the edges. The uranium plaster was
applied at first in cases where the limbs were affected with lupus and
later on the face. Exposure for three days and three nights to an
affected arm was followed by no reaction, but on the face it was found
that a slight reaction followed in cases where the exposure exceeded
twenty-four hours. The plaster may be worn only at nights and removed in
the morning. The results have been encouraging, and the risks appear to
be negligible. The treatment is cheap, since the cost of making the
plaster has been estimated at about one shilling, and experiments have
shown that the plaster remains active after four months. This short
paper is illustrated by reproductions of four skiagraphs, one taken by
thorium and the other three by uranium plasters. These demonstrate the
fact that the radio-activity of the uranium salt is much greater than
that of thorium.