1 December 1952

Dr. C. Bastiansen

Universitetets Kjemiske Institutt

Blindern, Oslo

Norway

Dear Otto:

I am glad to have your letter about Finbak. Some news has reached me about him, from Ken Hedberg, and also Gunnar Bergmen, who has just returned from a short visit to Stockholm. I hope that his condition continues to improve - I feel strongly that the minimum-protein diet should do him much good, although of course the damage to the kidneys, once done, cannot really be repaired.

I trust that you will send any news that you have about Finbak on to me. Professor Sørensen has written me a letter, containing some information but not very much. I have also written to him asking him to let me know about recent developments.

I have talked with Dr. Lippman about the symptoms that you have mentioned in your letter, and Dr. Lippman has not felt that he could make any definite statements about them. In particular, he said that the indication of mental instability did not have any bearing on the matter of kidney disease, unless perhaps it represented the result of rupture of a small blood vessel in the brain, which might occur because of the hypertension.

I am glad to learn that your new electron diffraction apparatus is working well. The one that is under construction here is still in the shop, and moving along rather slowly. We hope to have it in operation next year.

With best regards, I am

Sincerely yours,

Linus Pauling:W