On the Spontaneous Action of Radio-active Bodies on Gelatin Media

Abstract

IN the course of some experiments on the formation of unstable, molecular aggregates, notably in phosphorescent bodies, I was led to try whether such dynamically unstable groupings could be produced by the action of radium upon certain organic substances. It will scarcely be necessary to enter here into an account of the many speculative experiments which I have at one time or another tried, but it will suffice if I describe, as briefly as possible, the experiment which, amongst others, has led to a very curious result, and that is the effect of radium chloride and radium bromide upon gelatin media, such as those generally used for bacterial cultures.