Show MURD MUR deper 0 A science perfects death ray in battle on civilization s greatest enemy the one celled microorganism micro organism by JOSEPH W labine in the madcap a sober young laboratory engineer for the detroit edison company was married dr robert F james was his name a world war veteran with an M D degree from the university of michigan doctor and mrs james moved into an apartment equipped with an obsolete electric refrigerator which emitted a musty odor they like it so they did about it that musty odor is indirectly 1 responsible for one of the greatest steps in sanitation progress the world has ever taken it brought about perfection of a new and economical ultraviolet ray lamp that kills germs instantaneously laneau sly but bother humans its inventors were doctor james and another famous scientist dr harvey C the device called lamp has just been announced noun ced the new lamp has already shown its value in trial installations at duke hospital in durham N C it was placed over the operating table immediately bringing about a reduction in post operation infections meat dealers have installed it in their refrigerators with a resultant decrease in spoilage bakers find it delays formation of mold on their products and restaurants use it to sterilize their glasses these are only a few of its applications the fight for sanitation for centuries man believed that all diseases could be ascribed to demons and millions forfeited IM 5 0 41 ck J how ultraviolet radiation purifies the air in an operating r room oom eliminating danger of infection from bacteria in the atmosphere nc note t the lamp in the ceiling the long tube like lights their lives to ignorance before van leeuwenhoek discovered the tiny organisms responsible for plagues pasteur and lister helped establish the importance of heat in killing bacteria but even heat has its limitations it cannot be used to preserve perishables like food and meat furthermore ther more extreme heat destroys glasses and dishes sunlight has a sterilizing action but its power is comparatively feeble while it has long been known that sunlight carries some ultraviolet radiation that kills bacteria it remained for drs james and to isolate that small portion of the ultraviolet spectrum which is really effective to use the entire spectrum would be like killing rabbits with an elephant gun I 1 in dr lers own words so he set about inventing a meter to measure accurately the amount of invisible radiation of any selected w wavelength wave a ve length be being ing emitted by his experimental lam lamps Ps trial and IC error error but lets get back to detroit and dr james musty refrigerator equipped with a knowledge of ultraviolet tra violet rays the scientist did perfect a lamp which lie he placed inside the refrigerator resulting in sterilization liza lia libation tion by radiation the musty smell soon vanished he knew the lamp would kill bacteria but he had no way of knowing how much radi radiation atio n should be generated for any given sterilization job too much might be dangerous it was vas while coping with this problem ae m that he met dr who developed the meter working at bloomfield N J tl the ie two men spent five years in experimentation with their meter they tested tediously and painstakingly the effect of v various arious ultraviolet 1 inventors of the amazing rent schier james process right dr robert F james whose ice box had a musty odor and below dr harvey C internationally known ray authority 1 g 6 1 7 Z wp amu azia R wa 7 M wave bands upon bacteria and other microorganisms micro organisms finally they found the right band murder by ultraviolet only a few weeks have elapsed since the james process was explained before a gathering of scientists in new york city at that time the death struggle of paramecia para mecia was magnified and thrown on a screen the first pictures showed normal paramecia para mecia one celled animals going about their work busily unaware of the impending doom then the lamp was turned on the para mecia speeded up their scurrying to a frenzy then began to shiver and tremble finally they stopped and began to die at dule duke hospital lamps were installed immediately over the operating table long narrow lamps 14 Q W N I 1 17 T 1 ft 3 g imlig V Y ea a WA Z 01 that look much like neon tubing it was found that virtually all bacteria in the air about the open wound supply and instrument tables were killed while 80 to 90 per cent of the bacteria in far corners of the room also died helps the butcher meat dealers have found the lamp invaluable forced to carry from to 1500 pounds of meat in his refrigerator at all times the butcher has in the past suffered great losses from spoilage caused by mold and slime the result of combined high refrigeration temperature and hi high gh humidity low refrigeration temperatures have been similarly unfavorable because too much moisture is evaporated but with the new lamp which gives little heat refrigerators need only be kept sufficiently cool to prevent flabbiness bacteria and mold are killed immediately fresher bread and cake is guaranteed by bakeries where lamp has been tested two large firms used the lamp to retard mold growth on fruit cakes before installation stal lation spoilage of the calces cakes amounted to about 15 per cent a figure which dropped to I 1 or 2 per cent after the lamps were adopted farsighted far sighted scientists have predicted a day when the new lamp may free us from the worry of bacterial infection obviously the next application of this process will be to the atmosphere itself a field in which experimentation is already being made science whose twentieth century gifts to civilization are already legion has hurdled another barrier in its drive to make the world a safe happy and healthy place to live a western newspaper union 37 k U Q A gt R IW C drinking glasses exposed to the lamp for just a few seconds emerge completely sterilized and thus check the spread of communicable disease |