情色书屋

Chapter III At War
书名： 居里夫人自传（名人传记系列） 作者： [法]居里(Curie,M.) 本章字数： 28398 更新时间： 2020-07-30 15:56:20

In 1914, it happened, as it often had in other years, that my daughters had left Paris for their summer vacation before me. They were accompanied by their governess, in whom I had all confidence, and were living in a small house on the seashore in Brittany, at a place where there were also the families of several of our good friends. My work did not generally permit me to pass the entire vacation near them without interruption.

That year I was preparing to join them in the last days of July, when I was stopped by the bad political news, with its premonitions of an imminent military mobilization. It did not seem possible for me to leave under these conditions, and I waited for further events. The mobilization was announced on August 1st, immediately followed by Germany’s declaration of war on France. The few men of the laboratory staff and the students were mobilized, and I was left alone with our mechanic who could not join the army because of a serious heart trouble.

The historic events that followed are known to every one, but only those who lived in Paris through the days of August and September, 1914, can ever really know the state of mind in the capital and the quiet courage shown by it. The mobilization was a general wave of all France passing out to the border for the defense of the land. All our interest now centered on the news from the front.

After the uncertainties of the first days this news became more and more grave. First, it was the invasion of Belgium and the heroic resistance of that little country; then the victorious march of the German army through the valley of the Oise toward Paris; and soon the departure of the French government to Bordeaux, followed by the leaving of those Parisians who could not, or would not, face the possible danger of German occupation. The overloaded trains took into the country a great number of people, mostly of the well-to-do class. But, on the whole, the people of Paris gave a strong impression of calm and quiet decision in that fateful year of 1914. In the end of August and the beginning of September the weather was radiant, and under the glorious sky of those days the great city with its architectural treasures seemed to be particularly dear to those who remained in it.

When the danger of German attack on Paris became pressing, I felt obliged to put in security the supply of radium then in my laboratory, and I was charged by the government to take it to Bordeaux for safety. But I did not want to be away long, and hence decided to return immediately. I left by one of the trains that were carrying government staff and baggage, and I well remember the aspect of the national highway which was at intervals in view from the train; it showed a long line of motorcars carrying their owners from the capital.

Arriving at Bordeaux in the evening, I was very embarrassed with my heavy bag including the radium protected by lead. I was not able to carry it and waited in a public place, while a friendly ministry employee who came by the same train managed to find a room for me in a private apartment, the hotels being overcrowded. The next morning I hurried to put the radium in a safe place, and succeeded, although not without difficulty, in taking a military train back to Paris in the evening of the same day. Having opportunity for exchanging a few sentences with persons on the place who wanted to ask information from people coming by the train, I was interested to notice how they seemed surprised and comforted to learn of some one who found it natural to return to Paris.

My trip back was troubled by delays; for several hours the train rested immovable on the rails, while the travelers accepted a little bread from the soldiers who were provided with it. Finally arriving in Paris, I learned that the German army had turned; the battle of the Marne had begun.

In Paris I shared the alternating hope and grief of the inhabitants during the course of that great battle, and had the constant worry of foreseeing a long separation from my children in case the Germans succeeded in occupying the city. Yet I felt that I must stay at my post. After the successful outcome of the battle, however, any immediate danger of occupation being removed, I was able to have my daughters come back from Brittany to Paris and again take up their studies. This was the great desire of my children, who did not want to stay away from me and from their work, even if many other families thought it wiser to stay in the country, far from the front.

The dominant duty imposed on every one at that time was to help the country in whatever way possible during the extreme crisis that it faced. No general instructions to this were given to the members of the University. It was left to each to take his own initiative and means of action. I therefore sought to discover the most efficient way to do useful work, turning my scientific knowledge to most profit.

During the rapid succession of events in August, 1914, it was clearly proved that the preparation for defense was insufficient. Public feeling was especially aroused by the realization of the grave failings which appeared in the organization of the Health Service. My own attention was particularly drawn to this situation, and I soon found a field of activity which, once entered upon, absorbed the greatest part of my time and efforts until the end of the war, and even for some time thereafter. The work was the organization of radiologic and radio-therapeutic services for the military hospitals. But I also had to make the change, during these difficult war years, of my laboratory into the new building of the Institute of Radium and to continue, in the measure possible to me, regular teaching, as well as to investigate certain problems, especially interesting the military service.

It is well known that the X-rays offer surgeons and doctors extremely useful means for the examination of the sick and wounded. They make possible the discovery and the exact location of projectiles which have entered the body, and this is a great help in their extraction. These rays also reveal lesions of bones and of the internal organs and permit one to follow the progress of recovery from internal injuries. The use of the X-rays during the war saved the lives of many wounded men; it also saved many from long suffering and lasting infirmity. To all the wounded it gave a greater chance of recovery.

However, at the beginning of the war, the Military Board of Health had no organization of radiology, while the civil organization was also but little developed. Radiologic installations existed in only a small number of important hospitals, and there were only a few specialists in the large cities. The numerous new hospitals that were established all over France in the first months of the war had, as a rule, no installation for the use of X-rays.

To meet this need I first gathered together all the apparatus I could find in the laboratories and stores. With this equipment I established in August and September, 1914, several stations of radiology, the operation of which was assured by volunteer helpers to whom I gave instruction. These stations rendered great service during the battle of the Marne. But as they could not satisfy the needs of all the hospitals of the Paris region, I fitted up, with the help of the Red Cross, a radiologic car. It was simply a touring motor-car, arranged for the transport of a complete radiologic apparatus, together with a dynamo that was worked by the engine of the car, and furnished the electric current necessary for the production of the rays. This car could come at the call of any of the hospitals, large or small, in the surroundings of Paris. Cases of urgent need were frequent, for these hospitals had to take care of the wounded who could not be transported to more distant places.

The first results of this work showed that it was necessary to do more. Thanks to special donations and to the help of a very efficient relief committee called “le Patronage National des Blessés”, I succeeded in developing my initiative to a considerable extent. About two hundred radiologic installations were established or materially improved through my efforts in the zone of the French and Belgian armies, and in the regions of France not occupied by the army. I was able, besides, to equip in my laboratory and give to the army twenty radiologic cars. The frames of these cars were donated by, various persons who wished to be helpful; some of them offered also the equipment. The cars were of the greatest service to the army, particularly important in the first two years of the war, when the regular military service possessed but few radiologic instruments. Later the Board of Health created, little by little, a considerable radiologic service of its own, as the utility of the stations was more clearly realized owing to the example given by private initiative. But the needs of the armies were so great that my cooperation continued necessary to the end of the war, and even afterwards.

I could not have accomplished this work without seeing for myself the needs of the ambulance stations and hospitals. Thanks to the help of the Red Cross and to the agreement of the Board of Health, I was able to make several journeys to the army zones and to the other parts of France. Several times I visited the ambulance stations of the armies of the north and in the Belgian zone, going to Amiens, Calais, Dunkirk, Furnes, and Poperinghe. I went to Verdun, Nancy, Luneville, Belfort, to Compiegne, and Villers-Cotterets. In the regions distant from the front, I took care of many hospitals which had to do very intensive work with little aid. And I keep as a precious recollection of that time, many letters of warm recognition from those to whom I brought help in their difficulties.

The motive of my starting on a journey was usually a demand from surgeons. I went with a radiologic car which I kept for my personal use. In examining the wounded in the hospital, I could gain information of the special needs of the region. When back in Paris, I got the necessary equipment to meet these needs and returned to install it myself, for very often the people on the ground could not do it. I had then to find competent persons to handle the apparatus and show them how to do it, in full detail. After a few days of hard toil, the manipulator knew enough to work the apparatus himself, and at the same time a large number of wounded had been examined. In addition, the surgeons of the region had gained an idea of the usefulness of the radiologic examination (which few of them knew at that time), and friendly relations were established which made the later development of my work much easier.

On several of my trips I was accompanied by my elder daughter, Irene, who was then seventeen years old, and, having finished her preparatory studies, was beginning higher studies at the Sorbonne. Because she greatly desired to be useful, she now studied nursing and learned radiology, and did her best to help me under the most varied circumstances. She did ambulance work at the front between Furnes and Ypres, and also at Amiens, receiving, from the Chiefs of Service, testimonials of work satisfactorily performed and, at the end of the war, a medal.

Of the hospital life of those years, we keep many a remembrance, my daughter and I. Traveling conditions were extraordinarily difficult; we were often not sure of being able to press forward, to say nothing of the uncertainty of finding lodgings and food. However, things always ended in arranging themselves, thanks to our persistence and to the good will we met. Wherever we went I had to look after each detail myself and see innumerable military chiefs to obtain passes and permissions for transportation. Many a time I loaded my apparatus on to the train myself, with the help of the employees, to make sure that it would go forward instead of remaining behind several days at the station. And on arrival I also went to extract them from the encumbered station.

When I traveled with the radiologic car, other problems presented themselves. I had, for instance, to find safe places for the car, to get lodgings for the assistants and to secure the automobile accessories. Since chauffeurs were scarce, I learned to drive the car, and did it when necessary. Owing to all this personal supervision, my installations were usually swiftly made, whereas appeal to the Central Health Service was answered slowly. So the military chiefs greatly appreciated the assistance they could get from me, especially in cases of urgent need.

We both, my daughter and myself, have pleasant and grateful memories of the personnel of the hospitals, and were on the best terms with the surgeons and nurses. One could not but admire these men and women who were giving their services without counting, and whose task was often overwhelming. Our collaboration was easy, for my daughter and I tried to work in their spirit; and we felt that we were standing side by side with friends.

While we were attached to the Belgian Ambulance Service, we were present several times during visits of King Albert and Queen Elizabeth. We appreciated deeply their devotion, their solicitude for the wounded, their extreme simplicity, and the cordiality of their behavior.

But nothing was so moving as to be with the wounded and to take care of them. We were drawn to them because of their suffering and because of the patience with which they bore it. Almost everyone did his best to facilitate the X-ray examination, notwithstanding the pain caused by any displacement. One learned very soon to know them individually and to exchange with them a few friendly words. Those who were not familiar with the examination, wanted very much to be reassured about the effect of the strange apparatus they were going to experience.

I can never forget the terrible impression of all that destruction of human life and health. To hate the very idea of war, it ought to be sufficient to see once what I have seen so many times, all through those years: men and boys brought to the advanced ambulance in a mixture of mud and blood, many of them dying of their injuries, many others recovering but slowly through months of pain and suffering.

One of my difficult problems was to find the necessary trained assistants to operate my apparatus. At the beginning of the war there was little knowledge of radiology, and apparatus in the hands of those who did not understand how to handle it deteriorated quickly and was soon useless. The practice of radiology in most hospitals in war-time did not require much medical knowledge; it could be sufficiently grasped by intelligent persons who knew how to study and who had some notion of electrical machinery. Professors, engineers, or university students often made good manipulators. I had to look for those who were temporarily free from military service, or who happened to be stationed in the locality where I needed them. But even after I had secured them, these operators were often transferred by military orders, and I had to search again for others to fill their places. For this reason, I determined to train women to do this work.

Accordingly, I proposed to the Health Service to add a department of radiology to the Nurses’ School which had just been founded at the Edith Cavell Hospital. This they agreed to do. And so, in 1916, the course was organized at the Radium Institute, and provided in the following years of war for the training of one hundred and fifty operators. Most of the pupils who applied had only an elementary education, but could succeed if working in a proper way. The course comprised theoretical studies and very extended practical training; it included also some instruction in anatomy. It was given by a few persons of good will, among them my daughter. Our graduates formed an excellent personnel very genuinely appreciated by the Board of Health. Theoretically, they were supposed to serve as aides to physicians, but several of them proved capable of independent work.

My continued and various experience in war radiology gave me a wide knowledge of that subject, which I felt should be made more familiar to the public. So I wrote a small book called “Radiology and the War”, in which I aimed to demonstrate the vital importance of radiology and to compare its development during war time with its use in the previous time of peace.

I come now to the account of the founding of the service of radiumtherapy at the Radium Institute.

In 1915, the radium, which had been safely deposited in Bordeaux, was brought back to Paris, and not having time for regular scientific research, I decided to use it to cure the wounded, without, however, risking the loss of this precious material. I proceeded to place at the disposal of the Health Service not the radium itself, but the emanation which can be obtained from it at regular intervals. The technique of the use of the emanation can readily be employed in the larger radiumtherapy institutes, and, in many ways, is more practicable than the direct use of radium. In France, however, there, was no national institute of radiumtherapy, and the emanation was not used in hospitals.

I offered to furnish regularly to the Health Service bulbs of radium emanation. The offer, was accepted, and the “Emanation Service”, started in 1916, was continued until the end of the war and even longer. Having no assistants, I had, for a long time, to prepare these emanation bulbs alone, and their preparation is very delicate. Numbers of wounded and sick, military and civil, were treated by means of these bulbs.

During the bombardment of Paris, the Health Board took special measures to protect from shells the laboratory in which the bulbs were prepared. Since the handling of radium is far from being free of danger (several times I have felt a discomfort which I consider a result of this cause), measures were taken to prevent harmful effects of the rays on the persons preparing emanation.

While the work in connection with the hospitals remained my major interest, I had many other preoccupations during the war.

After the failure of the German offensive in the summer of 1918, at the request of the Italian government, I went to Italy to study the question of her natural resources in radioactive materials. I remained a month and was able to obtain certain results in interesting the public authorities in the importance of this new subject.

It was in 1915 that I had to move my laboratory to the new building in the rue Pierre Curie. This was a trying and complicated experience, for which, once more, I had no money nor any help. So it was only between my journeys that I was able, little by little, to do the transportation of my laboratory equipment, in my radiologic cars. Afterwards, I had much work in classifying and distributing my materials, and arranging the new place in general, with the help of my daughter and of my mechanic, who, unfortunately, was often ill.

One of my first cares was to have trees planted in the limited grounds of my laboratory. I felt it very necessary for the eyes to have the comfort of fresh leaves in spring and summer time. So I tried to make things pleasant for those who were to work in the new building. We planted a few lime trees and plane trees, as many as there was room for, and did not forget flowerbeds and roses. I well remember the first day of bombardment of Paris with the big German gun; we had gone, in the early morning, to the flower-market, and spent all that day busy with our plantation, while a few shells fell in the vicinity.

In spite of the great difficulties, the new laboratory was organized little by little, and I had the satisfaction of having it quite ready for the beginning of the school-year 1919—1920, the period of demobilization. In the spring of 1919, I organized special courses for some American soldier students, who also studied with much zeal the practical exercises directed by my daughter.

The entire period of the war was for me, as for many others, a period of great fatigue. I took almost no vacation, except for a few days, now and then, when I went to see my daughters on their holidays. My older daughter would scarcely take any, and I was obliged to send her away sometimes to preserve her health. She was continuing her studies in the Sorbonne, and besides, as said before, was helping me with my war work, while the younger daughter was still in the preparatory college. Neither of them wished to leave Paris during the bombardment.

After more than four years of a war which caused ravages without precedent, the armistice came at last, in the autumn of 1918, followed by laborious efforts to reestablish peace, which is not yet general nor complete. It was a great relief to France to see the end of that dark period of cruel losses. But the griefs are too recent and life still too hard for calm and happiness yet to be restored.

Nevertheless, a great joy came to me as a consequence of the victory obtained by the sacrifice of so many human lives. I had lived, though I had scarcely expected it, to see the reparation of more than a century of injustice that had been done to Poland, my native country, and that had kept her in slavery, her territories and people divided among her enemies. It was a deserved resurrection for the Polish nation, which showed herself faithful to her national memories during the long period of oppression, almost without hope. The dream that appeared so difficult to realize, although so dear, became a reality following the storm that swept over Europe. In these new conditions I went to Warsaw and saw my family again, after many years of separation, in the capital of free Poland. But how difficult are the conditions of life of the new Polish republic, and how complicated is the problem of reorganization after so many years of abnormal life!

In France, partly devastated and suffering from the loss of so many of her citizens, the difficulties created by the war are not yet effaced, and the return to normal work is being attained only gradually. The scientific laboratories feel this state of affairs and the same condition prevails for the Radium Institute.

The various radiologic organizations created during the war still partially exist. The Radiographic Nurses’ School has been maintained at the request of the Board of Health. The emanation service, which could not be abandoned, is also continued in a considerably enlarged form. It has passed under the direction of Doctor Regaud, Director of the Pasteur Laboratory of the Radium Institute, and is developing into a great national service of radiumtherapy.

The work of the laboratory has been reorganized, with the return of the mobilized personnel and the students. But in the restrained circumstances under which the country still exists, the laboratory lacks ways and means for its efficient development. Particularly are wanted an independent hospital for radiumtherapy (which is called Curietherapy in France), and an experimental station, outside of Paris, for experiments on great quantities of material, such as are needed for the progress of our knowledge of radioactive elements.

I myself am no longer young, and I frequently ask myself whether, in spite of recent efforts of the government aided by some private donations, I shall ever succeed in building up for those who will come after me an Institute of Radium, such as I wish to the memory of Pierre Curie and to the highest interest of humanity.

However, a precious encouragement came to me in the year 1921. On the initiative of a generous daughter of the United States, Mrs. W. B. Meloney, the women of that great American country collected a fund, the “Marie Curie Radium Fund”, and offered me the gift of a gramme of radium to be placed entirely at my disposal for scientific research. Mrs. Meloney invited me with my daughters to come to America and to receive the gift, or the symbol of it, from the hands of the President of the great republic, at the White House.

The fund was collected by a public subscription, as well by small as by important gifts, and I was very thankful to my sisters of America for this genuine proof of their affection. So I started for New York at the beginning of May, after a ceremony given in my honor at the Opera of Paris, to greet me before my departing.

I keep a grateful memory of my sojourn in the United States for several weeks, of the impressive reception at the White House, where President Harding addressed me in generous and affectionate words, of my visits to the universities and colleges which welcomed me and bestowed on me their honorary degrees, of the public reunions where I could not but feel the deep sympathy of those who came to meet me and to wish me good luck.

I had also the opportunity of a visit to the Niagara Falls and to the Grand Canyon, and admired immensely these marvelous creations of nature.

Unhappily, the precarious state of my health did not permit of the complete fulfilment of the general plan established by my visit to America. However, I saw and learned much, and my daughters enjoyed to a full extent the opportunities of their unexpected vacation and the pride in the recognition of their mother’s work. We left for Europe at the end of June, with the real sorrow of parting from excellent friends whom we would not forget.

I came back to my work, made easier by the precious gift, with an even stronger desire to carry it forward with renewed courage. But as my aims are still wanting support in essential parts, I am frequently compelled to give thought to a very fundamental question concerning the view a scientist ought to take of his discovery.

My husband, as well as myself, always refused to draw from our discovery any material profit. We have published, since the beginning, without any reserve, the process that we used to prepare the radium. We took out no patent and we did not reserve any advantage in any industrial exploitation. No detail was kept secret, and it is due to the information we gave in our publications that the industry of radium has been rapidly developed. Up to the present time this industry hardly uses any methods except those established by us. The treatment of the minerals and the fractional crystallizations are still performed in the same way, as I did it in my laboratory, even if the material means are increased.

As for the radium prepared by me out of the ore we managed to obtain in the first years of our work, I have given it all to my laboratory. The price of radium is very high since it is found in minerals in very small quantities, and the profits of its manufacture have been great, as this substance is used to cure a number of diseases. So it is a fortune which we have sacrificed in renouncing the exploitation of our discovery, a fortune that could, after us, have gone to our children. But what is even more to be considered is the objection of many of our friends, who have argued, not without reason, that if we had guaranteed our rights, we could have had the financial means of founding a satisfactory Institute of Radium, without experiencing any of the difficulties that have been such a handicap to both of us, and are still a handicap to me. Yet, I still believe that we have done right.

Humanity, surely, needs practical men who make the best of their work for the sake of their own interests, without forgetting the general interest. But it also needs dreamers, for whom the unselfish following of a purpose is so imperative that it becomes impossible for them to devote much attention to their own material benefit. No doubt it could be said that these idealists do not deserve riches since they do not have the desire for them. It seems, however, that a society well organized ought to assure to these workers the means for efficient labor, in a life from which material care is excluded so that this life may be freely devoted to the service of scientific research.

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