Radium is a rare metal that is found in mines beneath a mountain in the Quadling Country of Oz.

Description

It is an exquisite metal that resembles translucent frosted silver. The metal itself radiates a soft light. It is a medicine, too, and no one can ever be sick who lives near radium.

History

King Evardo gave Ozma a diadem of diamonds set in radium as a birthday present. (The Road to Oz)

The Horners spend all their time digging radium from their mines. (The Patchwork Girl of Oz)

Ozma's Magic Picture was set into a radium frame. (Tik-Tok of Oz)

Background

There is a real-world element called Radium (element 88, Ra), which is silvery-white in color. It's also radioactive. It was discovered by Marie Curie in 1898, eleven years before Baum wrote The Road to Oz. When it was first discovered, people believed that exposure to radiation was good for you and would make you healthy. These beliefs are reflected in Baum's writing (although maybe, in Oz, radium actually is good for you). In reality, exposure to radiation is really, really bad.

References

Gray, Theodore. The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2009.