Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 52 — page 112: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION None of these animals be- came cestrous—suggesting al- most certainly that the pituit- ary must have this “brain blood” before it can prepare the animal for bearing young. It is thought that the “brain blood”’ contains a chemical substance formed in the brain, that acts on the pituitary. Readers will remember that this was a topic dealt with by Peter Summers in his article Brain and Body in Authentic No. 50. RADIATION INJURY Since a Japanese fisherman died a while back from the effects of radioactive ash from a test explosion many miles away, the problem of the biological effects of radiation has acquired increased import- ance. One of the most recent pieces of research on this topic was concerned with the effect of radiation on hydra- tion changes in the animal’. It has long been known that nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, cdema, fall in blocd pressure and shock—results of radia- Lil tion poisoning—all give rise to such changes. Many authorities believe that rapid disassociation of H,O into OH- and H* and the rapid and brief recombination of the ions into peroxide may be the cause of most radio- pathological conditions. Robert Rugh decided to determine the hydration changes in various organs and tissues of the mouse as a guide to which part of the body should be studied more intensely. Science was rather confounded. Severe X-radia- tion produced a water-shift that was only secondary to a decrease in dry weight of the organs and tissues. (The adrenal gland was exceptional | in showing an increase in water content.) More startling still, Rugh found that nervous tissue (especially the brain), once thought to be the least affected tissue in the body, now showed a very significant increase in water content. He believes that the brain is the most affected organ and suggests that future work comicloooks.comn