Until recently there was no agent known that could in the slightest degree change or influence the natural course of the development of a cataract from its period of incipiency to maturity. Surgery had reached a high degree of perfection and was followed in the majority of cases by a clinical success which meant restoration of vision. Surgery, however, does not influence or change the development of the lenticular opacification but simply removes the entire lens.
A great many attempts have been made to influence the development of cataract by chemical means, but as yet without success. In the last decade, however, a great deal of progress has been reported in radium therapy as applied to various pathologic conditions, and the field of usefulness of the biologic action of radium in the domain of therapeutics is constantly widening. Furthermore, a great many eye conditions, such as trachoma, vernal catarrh, and