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SummaryThe R.B.E. of fast neutrons compared with caesium gamma-rays is equal to 3 on the lethality of ‘August’ rats, and equal to 4 as measured by the mean weight drop three days after irradiation.The timing of the various reactions appears to be the same in both cases, but death after fast neutron-irradiation is mainly due to intestinal lesions and after caesium gamma-irradiation to bone-marrow lesions. Lethality does not, therefore, seem to be a very satisfactory criterion for comparing the efficiency of fast neutrons with x- or gamma-rays. Any measure in rem derived from a lethality experiment might prove a very misleading guide when applied to accidental or therapeutic neutron-irradiations in men.On the other hand, fast neutrons appear to be an ideal medium for the study of the mechanism of ‘intestinal irradiation death’ and the digestive syndrome after non-lethal doses of radiations.
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R Ghys (1960) studied this question.
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