PHYSICS 195 



by the electron which has passed through, the rotation is 

 checked by the outer portion and the rotating system (which 

 can be conceived as a number of " magnetic spokes ") is started 

 back once more and oscillates to and fro like the balance wheel 

 of a watch until its energy is expended in the emitted radiation. 

 But, of course, such oscillations are again only another aspect 

 of the condenser discharging in an oscillatory fashion, and just 

 the same type of mathematical result is obtained. 



Other papers, containing the substance of remarks made at 

 the meeting, are contributed by H. S. Allen, R. A. Houstoun, 

 and Professor Peddie. 



The success of the model is striking testimony to the view 

 which has gradually been gaining ground that in fundamental 

 explanations of atomic behaviour, we have too often lost sight 

 of the importance of magnetic phenomena and somewhat over- 

 stressed the purely electric side of natural occurrences. 



J. R. 



PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY. By W. E. Garner. M.Sc, University 

 College, London. 



The lonisation Theory of Ghosh. — The immediate successes 

 achieved by the theory of dilute solutions as developed by 

 van t'Hoff, Arrhenius, and Ostwald towards the end of the 

 nineteenth century, raised hopes which have not been fulfilled 

 by subsequent experimental work. The simple postulates of 

 the earlier investigators have not been found adequate for the 

 treatment of solutions of strong electrolytes. Thus the 

 Ostwald dilution law fails completely in the case of these 

 solutions. 



During the last two decades, numerous investigators have 

 sought the complete solution of the problem of the relationship 

 between ionisation and conductivity. The effects of viscosity, 

 hydrate formation, complex ion formation, etc., have been 

 studied without throwing much light on the deviations from 

 the simple postulates of Arrhenius. It is not surprising, 

 therefore, that the theory of Ghosh, which rejected the funda- 

 mental assumptions of Arrhenius and proposed a new electrical 

 theory of dilute solution, was received with general favour. 

 Nernst, in the new edition of his textbook {Theoretrische 

 Chemie, p. 615), Noyes, Mclnnes, and many other workers 

 have given their support to the new ideas. The theory has, 

 however, been so severely criticised by Partington {Trans. 

 Faraday Sac, 191 9, 15, m), Chapman and George {Phil. 

 Mag., 1 92 1 [vi], 41, 799), Kraus {J.A.C.S., 1921, 43, 2514), 

 Kendall {J.A.C.S., 1922, 44, 717), and by S. Arrhenius (Z. 

 Phys. Chem., 1922, 100, 9) that one is faced with the conclusion 

 that this acceptance of the theory was somewhat premature. 



