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The authors describe a simple universal applicator which uses a single radioactive 137Cs source and a conical filter producing flat isodoses parallel to the base of the applicator. A common single source may be used for applicators of different sizes, offering an advantage over the more conventional radium mold.

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(1866). Theoretical and experimental researches on thermo-electrical currents. The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science: Vol. 32, No. 217, pp. 394-396.

Three Philips 250/15, 250 kV X-ray units are in use in the Radiotherapy Department at Groote Schuur Hospital, operating at 15 mA and 50 cm FSD. The beam is filtered by 1 mm of tin, 0·25 mm of copper and 1 mm of aluminium, giving a half value layer of 3·5 mm copper. Checks of skin dosage by means of thermoluminescent dosimetry (TLD) revealed unexpectedly low doses towards the edge of a wide field (25 × 8 cm) on the long axis. In order to investigate this further, isodose curves were plotted using a Toshiba MRA-301 automatic isodose curve plotter on each of the three X-ray units. With each unit, a marked asymmetry of the radiation beam was found, the beam being more intense on the anode side than the cathode side. This effect is illustrated in Fig. 1 for a 25 × 10 cm field. The dotted lines on the cathode side are the curves from the anode side reflected about the central axis to facilitate comparison. An isodose curve plotted without an applicator exhibited the same asymmetry, eliminating the applicator as...

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Summary We support others in suggesting combined radium therapy and x-ray therapy for the majority of vaginal cancers and that the pelvic walls be taken to a tumour lethal dose wherever possible (in those patients given radical treatment). A possible “standard” applicator is proposed which is apparently simple, safe and reliable and perhaps overcomes some defects of other methods. Like most others we can offer no large series of patients treated by any one method, nor are we likely to be able to do so for a very long time to come.

(1869). On the luminous effects produced by electrostatic induction in rarefied gases.—Leyden jar with gaseous coatings. The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science: Vol. 38, No. 256, pp. 407-408.