RF Annual Report - 1935 - The Rockefeller Foundation

THE NATURAL SCIENCES 145
ords taken from the same region on a normal
brain. A study of the electrical discharges in
various parts of the brain during epileptic
seizures is under way.
McGill University
Biophysics
The sum of $24,000 has been appropriated to
McGill University, Montreal, for research in the
application of spectroscopic methods to biological
and medical problems during the three-year
period July 1, 1935, to June 30, 1938. This sum
provides support of cooperative researches in
the spectroscopic analysis of chemical elements,
especially lead, in spinal and other body fluids.
With a new and improved quartz spectrograph
it is possible to detect amazingly small concentrations
of metallic elements in biological materials.
Dr. John S. Foster was, in fact, able to
detect and measure, by spectroscopic means,
one hundred-millionth of a gram of lead from a
sample of spinal fluid of only one-fifth of a cubic
centimeter. The improvement of the spectrographic
method opens up new fields of investigation
hitherto inaccessible. ,
As a result of these experiments conclusions
have been reached concerning the behavior of
lead in the human body which are contrary to
the prevalent views expressed in the literature.
A satisfactory solution of the problem of lead
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