At the End of the Rainbow (1946)

[Music] Mankind's age-old treasure hunt the search for health and vitality in the beneficent rays of the sun today millions of people make regular pilgrimages to bathing beaches mountain peaks and other places especially favored by the sun seeking its health-giving bounty in ancient times people reverenced the Sun as the god of Hell sending life to Earth [Music] dwellers in this bit of sculpture over 3,300 years old are a king and his family is seated in the sun to demonstrate the vital power of the sun's Rays the sculptor carved the word life at the ends of some of the beams the Greeks and Romans prized the healing power of the sun they built as part of their houses the solarium where Sun bads could be taken regularly hypocrates the father of medicine praised the beneficent effects of the Sun in healing stubborn wounds but neither he nor any of the Ancients knew why the sun brought Health why it healed wounds they knew only that their son God sent life and health-giving rays and that was good enough but not good enough for the men of science who came afterward not good enough for the Curious Sir Isaac Newton who was sure that there was more to sunlight than meets the eye so he trapped a Sunbeam and passed it through a prism and there were the colors of the rainbow the component parts of white light that was way back in 1666 those ancient Sun worshippers must have seen many rainbows but they never Associated this a inspiring display with a breakdown of sunlight but the Spectrum which Newton unfolded the red orange yellow green blue and violet were not all of the rays of sunlight they were only the visible rays that portion of sunlight which the human eye can see in 1800 the great English astronomer hersel discovered the long invisible red rays which transferred more heat than the visible red rays and in the following year the noted German physician Ritter discovered the shorter and more chemically powerful ultraviolet rays at the other end of the spectrum infrared ultraviolet we can't see them how do we know they exist well here for instance is a whistle not just an ordinary whistle it's a dog whistle which creates sound waves pitched too high to be heard by the human ear but dogs hear tones of a higher frequency than human ears Pho hears it though we can't light like sound travels in waves these waves like ocean waves can be measured the length of a wave being the distance from the crest of one wave to the crest of the next wave ocean waves are the longest which we see in nature these little ripples are also waves but their wavelengths are much smaller than the giant ocean waves but even these tiny waves are tremendous in size compared to the wavelengths of Light which are so small that an entirely different unit of measurement had to be developed let's begin with a measuring stick a meter in length 1,000th of a meter is a millimeter 1,000th of a millimet is a micron 1,000th of a micron is a millimicron but even the millimicron is not quite small enough to measure some of the newly discovered invisible rays so the Swedish physicist angstrom divided the millimicron by 10 and got one 10 billionth of a meter or an angstrom unit the accepted unit of measurement of light visible light extends from 7700 angstrom units for the visible red down to 3900 for the visible Violet but the invisible infrared Rays go up into the hundreds of thousands while the invisible ultraviolet rays dropped down to about 100 angstrom units the existence of these Rays had been known to science for more than 150 years but it wasn't until 1877 that a sensational Discovery was made by two English scientists their Discovery was the start of the great modern development of ultraviolet therapy these men exposed a tube of microscopic organisms to the sun they then wrapped a second tube containing organisms in black paper and placed it next to the first after several hours of strong sunlight they found that the covered tube was alive with microscopic organisms while the exposed tube was free of them this experiment plus others proved that it was the short ultraviolet rays and only the ultraviolet rays which killed bacteria that is they were bactericidal but the the ultraviolet rays of the sun could not be depended upon for unfortunately ultraviolet light as offered by nature is very changeable and unreliable it varies in different parts of the world different seasons of the year and different times of the day in addition and even more important most of the valuable rays are soaked up by the Earth's atmosphere the long infrared heat Rays get through the Earth's atmosphere easily but only the few ultraviolet rays near the visible part of the spectrum reach the Earth's surface and those few that do get through are further dissipated by the haze and smoke of modern industrial life even the glass in our homes and our modern clothes prevent us from getting any of the benefits of the sun's valuable ultraviolet rays in 1893 Dr finson of Denmark who knew the bactericidal nature of ultraviolet rays and also that sunlight was not Dependable looked Elsewhere for a source of these Curative Rays he developed a carbon Ark lamp and a system of quartz lenses he used quartz because it is one of the very few known substances which permits the transmission of all the ultraviolet rays he concentrated strong ultraviolet rays on small sections of diseased skin and was able to clear up the horrible disfiguring lesions of lupus vulgaris a tubercular infection of the skin another great advance in ultraviolet therapy came at the end of World War One lacking Cod L oil Dr hulinsky a Berlin physician exposed children suffering from rickets to artificial ultraviolet rays in a few months these miserable little creatures with warped bones flabby muscles and inflated bellies were changed back into funloving children after this Discovery ultraviolet therapy became standard treatment for rickets even at this late date however it was not yet known just why ultraviolet rays accomplished such remarkable results but in 1924 came the discovery of the important clue which unveiled The Mystery of the Cure of rickets doctors hes and Steinbach working independently found that certain foods including milk became anti- when irradiated that means exposed to ultraviolet light now it was known that cod liver oil irradiated skin and irradiated Foods all cured rets the question was what did these three entirely different methods have in common the answer came soon after it was vitamin D the vitamin which promotes the absorption of calcium and phosphorus so necessary for the building of strong bones and teeth vitamin D is produced in plant and animal life by exposure to certain ultraviolet rays we know that green plant pigment chlorophyll is produced in Plants only when they are exposed to sunlight keep a plant in the dark and the leaves lose that rich green color they become pale and the plant slowly dies deny Sun shine to human beings and they also lose their healthy skin color they become pale listless and fall easy prey to disease what did sunlight do to keep plants and human beings healthy it was found that ultraviolet rays act on a substance in the leaves of plants and in the skins of animals this substance known as stero is changed to vitamin D the vitamin D is picked up by the capillaries in the lower layer of the skin the ultraviolet rays also swell the capillaries so that the blood flows faster and more freely and carries the vitamin D throughout the body although these ultraviolet rays are absorbed only by the outer skin they affect the metabolism of our bodies the blood formation the digestive system the bone structure and the whole nervous system further experimentation established the fact that the ultraviolet rays necessary to produce the Ring of the skin or aemma kill bacteria and cure rickets fall in that LightWave band between 3100 and 2300 angstrom units and this is the band of rays that became the goal for inventors of ultraviolet ray generators while the carbon Arc the first of these generators was useful for therapeutic purposes it had too many drawbacks to create the ark the electrodes had to be made to touch then pulled apart to form the proper gap the formation of Sparks and Ash the high running expense due to its operation at very high temperature and the nuisance of replacing burned out carbons pointed to the need for a better lamp the early quartz Mercury Arc was an improvement over the carbon Arc its value diminished however with usage as the fused in metal electrodes deteriorated and formed a fine deposit on the inside of the quartz tube it was this studly increasing deposit which gradually reduced the ultraviolet ray output through the quartz until the electrodes eventually burned out entirely then in 1938 an American inventor put his mind to the problem how could he develop an UltraViolet raid generator which would have none of the disadvantages of the older types one that would make the son's health-giving qualities available at low cost to underprivileged men women and children who lived in homes rarely reached by the sun's Rays the inventor Frank Fury went to work in a Milwaukee basement after several years of intensive experimentation he came out of that basement with AED Theory and an UltraViolet raid generator operat on an entirely new principle activated by radio waves a pure quartz tube with no electrodes to deteriorate and burn out simple in principle and operation an automatic timing device so that it could be used safely in the home and at a cost which would make it available to people in all walks of life but before going to the public with this startling new product Mr Fury gave this lamp the acid test he submitted it to the American Medical Association which in turn requested an eminent scientist to test the lamp here is the scientist summary of His many laboratory tests the Suncraft ultraviolet lamp produces actinic rays of proper quality and sufficient quantity for the production of skin aemma and pigmentation for bactericidal action and for antirachitic effects prophylactic as well as Curative and here's the home of Suncraft dedicated to the health of the American people Mr fur's invention begins with these pure transparent quartz tombs quartz SPS being one of the very few known materials that completely transfers all of the ultraviolet raids experts reduce the long quartz tubes to the length of the [Music] lamp to exhaust the air from this tube a Mercury trap is fused to it and the air drawn out the evacuated tube is now filled with rare gases and it is then sealed with a drop of mercury on the inside to carry the electronic discharge through the tube here's the finished heart of the lamp a burner without electrodes no metal wires to sputter away and coat this precious quartz and hold back the vital ultraviolet rays this sealed tube without wires is placed in a field of radio waves and here it is ready to bring its health-giving Rays into the dark corners of the world but not before each lamp gets an exhaustive 48-hour test under these highfrequency radio waves oh the waves are there all right you can't see them anymore than you can see the ultraviolet rays which are now pouring through these Crystal Clear quartz envelopes but here's a piece of willite which is sensitive to ultraviolet light notice how it glows when it is exposed to the Rays to emphasize the importance of the quartz tube an experimental lamp was made up of ordinary glass very little if any of the ultraviolet rays get through to the willite on the production line skilled hands carefully meticulously bring together the numerous small parts these are hands of people who are mindful of the fact that they are not just assembling a lamp these Nimble fingers are building Health Human Health these are not just Craftsmen they are Sun Craftsman with a keen sense of responsibility for in each lamp they weave the reputation and integrity of Suncraft they are dispensers of Health with an unusual pride of performance inspired by an understanding and kindly [Music] leadership so they assemble and test assemble and test test to make sure that the eventual user will receive the greatest benefits from the vital rays which are to pour into hundreds of thousands of homes tests of its automatic timing device to assure just the proper amount of health-giving rays and no more and as final guarantee of safety to users of Suncraft a carefully written booklet and goggles to protect the eyes are wrapped with each lamp for shipment and now let's see the visual proof of the scientist report this man is giving his face a 6-minute exposure to Suncraft ultraviolet rays next morning he seems rather pleased with the healthy outdoor appearance created by the swelling of the capillaries Under the Skin this sunburn or aemma is the first prerequisite of ultraviolet therapy now let's test The Germ killing effect of exposure to the Sun Craft Lamp under the microscope are living organisms on a quartz slide so that the ultraviolet rays can reach them looking through the microscope we can see the effect of the ultraviolet rays on these organisms it is this germ killing property of ultraviolet rays which helps to heal stubborn wounds and this ability to kill germs is transferred to the bloodstream by the action of the ultraviolet rays on the skin this irradiated blood circulates through the entire body and carries its germicidal power with it thus helping us to resist disease as a result of these beneficial effects of ultraviolet exposure on the blood an interesting medical technique has been developed to speed up this bactericidal action here at Grace Hospital a measured amount of the blood of a patient is bypassed through a quartz container where it is exposed to ultraviolet rays and then recirculated throughout the the body this method has proved especially helpful in fighting virus pneumonia in contrast with this technique of bringing the blood to the ultraviolet rays a quartz applicator has been developed to carry the Rays into the body cavities medical science is also using the bactericidal effect of ultraviolet rays in operating rooms Suncraft ultraviolet raay generators are being used at henron hospital to kill airborne bacteria so as to reduce the possibility of infections from operative wounds and to heal incisions more rapidly most of the airborne bacteria in a room can be destroyed without danger of overexposure to any of the room's occupants now as to the anti- retic effects of the Suncraft lamp which the scientist reported here are two little brothers same size same age same weight and same state of Health both of them will be fed identical meals deficient in calcium and phosphorus so as to induce rickets but the one will get daily ultraviolet exposure from the Suncraft lamp during this experiment now compare the two after a week of the calcium deficient diet it's difficult to believe that they are the same age the little fellow is below par in appearance and shows many of the deformities seen in rakic children the ultraviolet rays supplied by the Suncraft lamp made up for the deficiency of the diet in the Big Brother as we saw previously ultraviolet rays activate the stero in the skin the vitamin D thus released is absorbed by the bloodstream and distributed around the entire body the released vitamin D stimulates the absorption of calcium and phosphorus which are necessary for the building of strong bones and teeth the United States armed forces have long been Advocates of ultraviolet radiation a special Suncraft lamp has been designed for the purpose of irradiating the entire body front and back these special Suncraft lamps are so powerful that within 4 minutes the entire body is bathed in health-giving ultraviolet rays these lamps too are equipped with burnout proof Suncraft quartz tubes in which the intensity of the ultraviolet rays will never lessen no matter how often nor how long they are used in many types of skin diseases due to bacterial infection ultraviolet rays are of great usefulness in the handbook of physical therapy of the American Medical Association we find the following statement it appears to be the general impression in the medical profession that ultraviolet radiation is of Great Value in dermat ology among the skin diseases benefited by ultraviolet therapy are petasis Rosia impo psychosis or barberich ulcers and wounds that refuse to heal psoriasis and acne we have seen that many diseases respond to the beneficial effects of ultraviolet rays but prevent of disease is even more important the reflector of the flexible Suncraft lamp may be readily detached so as to follow the Motions of a wriggling infant one of the greatest day-to-day uses in the home for this ultraviolet generator is the prevention of disease by building and maintaining good health the usual peeling of the skin may be avoided by applying a little Suncraft skin cream before exposing the face to the ultraviolet rays like the food we eat these rays are essential to good mental and bodily Health they increase the sense of wellbeing and alertness of mind and act as a tonic in the winter months they are as natural and necessary for the skin as cleanliness and fresh air ultraviolet rays improve the health of the skin and a healthy skin is a beautiful skin Sun Craft's tonic effect on the nervous system induces deep restful sleep in safety it is the only ultraviolet raid generator designed for the home which does not deteriorate with use it continues to send its full quota of beneficial ultraviolet rays through its Crystal Clear quartz year in and year out effectively and safely from its humble beginning in a basement Suncraft is today sending its beneficent Rays to all all corners of the world today more and more people are stepping out of the Shadows bringing the vital health-giving raay into their homes for happier and more healthful [Music] living here is ultraviolet for all at the end of the rainbow [Music]