IV: Claw Marks
In the explosion, radioactivity such as X-rays, Gamma rays and neutrons were released to a radius of 2.5 miles. Everyone who was out of doors within 0.6 mile suffered from the exposure. It showed first in the blood. The white corpuscle count dropped, accompanied by the malfunction of such organs as the spleen, blood-producing bone marrow and the lymph glands. Next, the lungs, stomach, intestines, liver and kidneys were damaged, resulting in bloody excrement and hemorrhaging from the stomach.
Within this 0.6 mile radius, those who absorbed large amounts of radiation died within four or five days, even if there were no visible wounds. Of those within 1.2 miles, nearly all died within two to six weeks. People from 1.2 to 2.4 miles distance from the hypocenter suffered various disabilities over a long period of time.
Individuals who were inside wooden structures, although neither exposed directly to the heat rays nor bearing visible injuries, began to lose their hair in about two weeks and suffered fever, bleeding gums and inflammation of the tonsils; also large red-purple splotches appeared on their arms and legs.
Radiation Sickness
The symptoms of so-called radiation sickness seemed to run a course, first of weakness, then temperatures up to 104°, vomiting, sometimes of blood, and bloody excrement. Death followed. Another physical effect of this new bomb became evident the first night. Fusaichi Fujitsu, an Army Medical Probation Officer at Ujina, examined the semen of non-commissioned officers who had gone into the city during the day with the rescue squad. The result showed no live sperm. "Undoubtedly, the bomb dropped today released X-rays and Gamma rays. We shall have to give those exposed to it blood transfusions or special nutriment," Dr. Fujitsu stated. However, due to the extreme shortage of medical supplies, only glucose or Ringer's Solution could be administered intravenously.
On August 8th, Dr. Yoshio Nishina of the Physio-Chemical Institute of Tokyo, arrived with a team of thirty scientists, army doctors and engineers, led by Army Lt. Gen. Arisue. Looking down on the scorched desert from the plane, Dr. Nishina felt sure it was the work of a nuclear bomb. Later the team autopsied many who had died without apparent wounds. The stomachs looked as though they had been curried with a wire brush, and every small passage of the internal organs was clogged with blood.
This investigative group met with another army team and a similar one from Kure Naval Base on August 10th to compare findings. The resulting telegraphed report to Central Military Command included the statement: "This bomb was neither dynamite nor an incendiary weapon. It has been clearly identified as an atomic bomb."
The Public Left in the Dark
Again, on about the 12th, Dr. Nishina reported the existence and dangers of residual radiation to Command. In spite of this intelligence, however, the military, still determined to fight to the finish, gave the citizens no warning, and it was not until war had ended that the people were told the truth. As a result, without taking any precautions, they continued to search about among the ruins for relatives, or threw themselves wholeheartedly into the work of rescuing the victims or clearing the streets. These people also suffered loss of hair, nose bleed, bloody stools and the like.
Dr. Michihiko Hachiya, Director of the Communications Hospital writes, "The leader in nuclear research, Dr. Nishina, and Dr. Matsumae on about August 12th, on examining the ground surrounding the hypocenter verified the fact that much residual radioactivity was still present. However, it was near the end of October or the beginning of November when we verified the effects of secondary radiation at our hospital. The bones of autopsied patients left shadows on experimental X-Ray films." Even three months after exposure it seemed the bone marrow was telling out the horrors of the atomic bomb.
Radiation left its mark on plants, also. When green first began to show above the scorched earth such weeds as miminagusa (Cerastium caespitosum Gilib. var. Ianthes Hara) and chickweed developed an odd number of petals and sepals. Prof. Tetsuo Fujita of Hiroshima University discovered this very early and began a study of the effects. He found many plants stunted, and the leaves of himeyomogi (Artemisia lavandulaefolia D C) and nazuna (Capsella Bursapastoris medicus) marked with white patterns. However, earthworms and creatures of the pond and swamp seem not to have been greatly affected.