These studies prompted me, at that time, to suggest the publication of an astronomical bulletin for hospitals and clinics that would warn them at least 5 or 6 days in advance of the passage of disturbed areas through the Sun's central meridian. This measure was implemented by the Interna tional Institute for Radiation Studies (Institut internationale d'etudes des radiations solaires, terrestres, et cosmiques), and for several years these astronimical bulletins were dispatched to all large medical institutions in France (Figure 14). According to Prof. M. Faure (Paris) this measure saved tens of thousands of human lives in France alone over a period of 3 to 4 years /83/.
On the basis of our work in the field of epidemiology and statistics, and proceeding from the principle that the coincident mortality is caused by the changes induced by solar Z-radiations in the protein-colloid equi librium of the blood, lymph, and tissue fluids, M. Takata /97/ began, in 1935, a search for a sensitive test for the precipitation of protein fractions from the serum. This research proved that certain solar radiations have a clear-cut, extremely potent effect on human blood, and that their activity could not be ascribed to any of the known components of the solar spectrum, from ultraviolet to infrared. The average normative value of this reaction was 31.5. The F reaction (Flockungszahl-reaction) revealed that the variations were directly linked to the position of the Sun and, most important, to the passage of the disturbed areas on the Sun through its central meridian. This reaction clearly displayed the 11-year cycles and the 27-day synodic periods of solar rotation. The F reaction induced pre cipitation of protein bodies from the human blood serum, whereby the stronger the specific action of the Sun, the more intense the flocculation. This phenomenon was designated "catastrophic flocculation" when the reac tion index increased to 80. This F reaction of the blood can be revealed only when both the blood donor and the person sampling the blood are electrically insulated from the Earth. In 1936-1952 the findings of M. Takata and his co-workers T. Murazugi and A. Takata were fully corrobo rated by many scientists in various countries (Girkage, Hofbauer, Ebergeni, Isbruch, Koller and Muller, Seitz, Asler and Both, Condorelli, Cafiero, Beckmann, and others).
In 1931-1950, while investigating the structural-morphological compo sition of native blood by special methods we repeatedly observed the unusual responsiveness of the hematopoietic organs to the specific radiation from the disturbed areas on the Sun. These extensive studies have been partially published in the first part of my book "Structural Analysis of Flowing Blood" (Strukturnyi analiz dvizhushcheisya krovi).* More recently, the exceptionally strong effect of solar disturbances on hematopoiesis and on the dynamics of leukocytes have been demonstrated by the Soviet physician and hematologist, N. A. Shul'ts /100-102/. Advances in this field have been made by G. Piccardi (Florence), Professor of Physical Chemistry, and his numerous followers in many European coun tries. In October 1958, at the international symposium held in Brussels on problems concerning the relationships between solar and terrestrial phenomena, brilliant achievements have been reported in physical chemistry and biology based on hundreds of thousands of experiments designed to determine the rate of some simple chemical reactions and the precipitation of colloids.
Piccardi's research, supported by the organizing committee of the International Geophysical Year, deserves to be highly praised. These studies facilitated a direct approach to the clarification of one of the mechanisms of action on the organism of the chromospheric flares, and other disturbed areas on the Sun from which corpuscles of ultrahigh ener gies and electromagnetic waves of different frequencies bombard the Earth.
It should be mentioned that the remedies used in current t h e r a p e u tics cannot a b at e the changes induced in the organism by Z-radiations. Only further detailed studies in this field will expose the finer mechanisms of action of Z-radiation on living matter. If Z-radiation is proved to act on the protein-colloidal phase of the patients' blood in ducing irreversible precipitation of the protein from the plasma or from plasmatic formations, it might become necessary to seek means of preserving the dispersed phase in a stable state. In this case protection against Z-rays will be limited to measures aimed at maintaining the electrical charges of biocolloids at the required level. At present, it is possible to solve this problem satisfactorily.