The Operation and Characteristics of Quartz Mercury Vapour Lamps for Ultra-Violet Irradiation

1939 ◽  
Vol 12 (134) ◽  
pp. 99-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. N. Peel

It has been demonstrated in a previous communication that potassium permanganate is decomposed on illumination by light from the quartz mercury-vapour lamp. It was, therefore, of interest to determine the wave-length of the chemically active light and to investigate if possible the validity of the Einstein law of photo-chemical equivalent which so far has been stated not to apply to substances in solution. A study was, therefore, made of the absorption spectrum of potassium permanganate, particularly with reference to the ultra-violet, since this region is the most lacking in qualitative data. The absorption in the visible regions of the spectrum has been studied by many authors, notably Formänek, and has recently been the subject of an interesting contribution by Hagenbach and percy, who have the subject of an interesting contribution by Hagenbach and percy, who have resolved it into a simple spectral series.


In the course of recent work on the possible effect the ultra-violet wave-band may have on the activation of ovarian function in female mosquitoes, it became apparent that mosquito larvae are highly susceptible to a remarkable form of injury by radiations from the unshielded mercury-arc generated by the ordinary Cooper-Hewitt vacuum type of quartz mercury-vapour lamp. This effect upon the larvae has been studied, and an attempt was made (1) to determine the wave-length of the radiations responsible for the injury by means of screens interposed between the lamp and the larvae; and (2) to ascertain the physiological and histological nature of the injury.


1929 ◽  
Vol 75 (310) ◽  
pp. 410-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Dove Cormac

The value of sunlight in the maintenance of health has been recognized from early ages, and history records sun-worship by many nations in the past as well as at the present time. In Europe records exist of the use of the light of the sun for medical and surgical purposes since before the Christian era, but it was only towards the end of the last century that its possibilities began to be studied and the value of the electric arc lamp as a substitute recognized. In 1893 Finsen demonstrated the value of sunlight and electric arc radiation in the treatment of lupus, and at the beginning of the present century Bernhard of Samaden treated wounds and tuberculous lesions with sunlight. In 1903 Rollier opened his first clinic at Leysin, where he obtained excellent results in the treatment of tuberculosis, especially of the surgical type, by insolation in the brilliant Alpine sunshine. In 1908 Gauvain introduced heliotherapy at Hayling Island and at Alton. Nagelschmidt used the air-cooled quartz mercury vapour lamp for general irradiation in the same year, and in 1913 Reyn commenced the use of the carbon arc for the same purpose. The value of ultra-violet rays in the cure of rickets was not recognized till demonstrated by Huldschinsky in 1918, though Palm (1), as early as 1890, urged that deficiency of sunshine was a cause of the condition.


1932 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian N. Sutherland

White rats reared from the age of 30 days to 275 days under vita glass, and properly fed, do not grow at a different rate from those reared under ordinary glass.The offspring of these rats, kept in the same environment, grow at the normal rate when compared with controls born and reared under ordinary window glass.A short discussion of these results is given in the text.Addendum. The temptation to use an artificial source of ultra-violet rays having proved irresistible, a further experiment was performed with 20 males, 10 under vita glass and 10 under window glass. These were exposed to the radiation of a Hanovia quartz mercury vapour lamp on alternate days, at a distance of four feet from the burner. The growth curves are shown on Chart V, and the lengths of exposure have been entered on this chart: it will be seen that the results are the same as with natural sunlight.


The work described below has been done in an attempt to isolate vitamin D from the complex mixture formed by the ultra-violet irradiation of ergosterol. It is evident that vacuum distillation might be of use for this purpose, but, except for a brief statement by Windaus and Holtz (1927), we are unaware of previous work on the distillation of vitamin D. We have distilled various products obtained from ergosterol, and most frequently have used resinous products prepared as follows. A solution of ergosterol in ether was exposed to the unfiltered radiation from a mercury vapour lamp while flowing through a narrow silica tube at a rate such tat about 40 per cent. of the ergosterol was destroyed. Thy unchanged ergosterol was then removed by precipitation with digitonin as described in a previous paper (Webster and Bourdillon, 1928) and the ethereal solution of the products of radiation was evaporated in vacuo to a dry resin.


In 1909 Messrs. J. Herbert Parsons and E. E. Henderson commenced some experiments on the action of short wave-length light on the lens and ciliary body, using Uviol glass mercury-vapour tubes and examining the lens and its capsule after exposure. To test for damage to the ciliary body too slight to be appreciable microscopically use was made of an observation of Römer’s, that in animals sensitised to the blood of another species, htemolysins were not transmitted from the blood to the aqueous unless the constitution of the latter were altered by a previous paracentesis or an inflammatory lesion of the iris and ciliary body. Positive results were obtained, but the experiments were not sufficiently extensive to be conclusive. I have, therefore, on behalf of the Committee of the Royal Society on Glassworkers’ Cataract, repeated and extended the experiments along lines suggested by Mr. Parsons. In the attempt to determine the effect of rays of various wave-lengths on the media of the eye, attention has been paid to three possible aetiological factors:—(1) The intensity of the light. (2) The part of the spectrum mainly represented in the source of light. (3) The possibility of the inclusion of electrolytic and mechanical as well as of radiant energy.


It was first shown by Dreyer and Hanssen (1) in 1917 that ultra-violet light produced a change in protein solutions which appeared to be similar to coagulation by heat. They exposed various solutions in quartz chambers to the light of a Bang lamp with iron and silver electrodes. Vitellin was found most easily coagulated, while globulin, albumin and fibrinogen showed a decreasing sensitivity to ultra-violet rays in the order mentioned. These investigators also discovered that acids markedly increase the rate of precipitation. Soret (2) had shown in 1883 that there are absorption bands in the extreme ultra-violet region of the spectrum of various proteins, e. g. , casein, ovalbumin, mucin and globulin. Tyrosine likewise has this band in the ultra-violet and Soret attributed to this constituent of the protein molecule its power of absorbing ultra-violet rays. In this connection Harris and Hoyt (3) carried out some interesting experiments on the protective power of various substances for paramœcium cultures exposed to ultra-violet radiations. They found that gelatin peptone, amino-benzoic acid, cystine, leucine and especially tyrosine possessed the power of detoxicating ultra-violet rays when placed as a thin layer of aqueous solution over paramœcium cultures under a quartz-mercury lamp. The toxicity of the radiations for paramœcia or protoplasm in general can be understood in the light of the discovery of Dreyer and Hanssen coupled with that of Soret. From a physico- chemical standpoint Bovie (4) has published a study of the coagulation of proteins by ultra-violet light. By exposing solutions of crystalline ovalbumin, both dialysed and containing electrolytes, to the light of a mercury-vapour lamp, he came to the conclusion that there were two reactions involved in the coagulation of ovalbumin by ultra-violet light. The first is a photochemical one with a low temperature coefficient,—denaturation; and the second is one with a higher temperature coefficient of two and is dependent upon the electrolytes present,—coagulation. While using solutions dialysed against tap water Bovie made the observation that the protein appeared to become sensitive to light of longer wave-length, for his control tubes in glass were slowly coagulated.


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