FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE. 



573 



ton and linen rags stand at one extreme and 

 wood pulp at the other. The destructive 

 agents are oxygen, the action of which is 

 stimulated by resins used in sizing the paper ; 

 water, which provokes chemical changes that 

 are facilitated by acid substances present in 

 the sizings ; and living organisms — molds 

 and bacteria — which become more dangerous 

 than ever when gelatin is introduced into 

 the sizing. Paper must further possess me- 

 chanical qualities to enable it to endure — 

 strength, a certain degree of elasticity, and 

 resistance to rubbing and friction — all of 

 which are involved in the questions of mate- 

 rial and sizing. Then all papers are " filled" 

 or " loaded," generally with clay, to give 

 them " body " and opacity and to cheapen 

 the manufacture. This does not actually 

 injure the paper, but may be carried to such 

 an extreme as to be a cheat. The best 

 papers, and the only ones suitable for use in 

 permanent records, are those made of what 

 Messrs. Cross and Bevan, in their book fully 

 treating of the subject, call normal cellulose — 

 cotton and linen — with china clay only spar- 

 ingly used. Such papers are now, unfortu- 

 natel}', rare. China clay is prodigally used, 

 and wood and straw largely take the place of 

 rags. Papers made of these substances are 

 very inferior and perishable. They are eas- 

 ily liable to discoloration, oxidize readily and 

 gi'adually crumble, rot, and perish — a fact of 

 which any one may satisfy himself by look- 

 ing at some newspaper cuttings only a few 

 years old. The conclusion is drawn by Mr. 

 C. F. Cross, from the examination of speci- 

 mens of serial publications in various Euro- 

 pean languages, that " a large proportion of 

 the literary and scientific work of the age is 

 printed on an extremely perishable foun- 

 dation." Happily, publishers have become 

 aware of this deficiency of modem papers 

 and are exercising more care in the selection 

 of those to be used in their better works ; 

 and manufacturers claim that with improved 

 processes and better methods they are able 

 to make even wood paper that will last. 



More New Elements ia the Atmosphere. 



— In communications to the French Acade- 

 my of Sciences and the Royal Society, Prof. 

 William Ramsay has reported the discovery 

 by himself and Mr. M. W. Travers of still 

 other hitherto undetected elements in the at- 



mosphere. The author, "having obtained a 

 quantity of Hquefied air from Dr. Hamps on, 

 allowed it to cool and evaporate slowly till 

 only about ten cubic centimetres remained 

 out of the original quantity of seven hun- 

 dred and fifty cubic centimetres. The gas 

 obtained from this residue was then carefully 

 purified from oxygen and nitrogen, and when 

 examined spectroscopically showed the argon 

 spectrum freely and also another spectrum 

 which was believed never to have been seen 

 before, especially characterized by the pres- 

 ence of two very brilliant lines, one in the 

 yellow, close to but not identical with the 

 helium line, and another in the green. Other 

 lines were also seen, but they were much 

 less intense. The new spectrum is under 

 special study by Mr. Baly. The newly dis- 

 covered gas is less volatile than nitrogen, 

 oxygen, and argon, and heavier than argon, 

 having a density measured at 22.5 as com- 

 pared with hydrogen, but likely to prove 

 greater when it is obtained free from argon. 

 The ratio of its specific heats indicates that 

 it is monatomic, and therefore an element. 

 Professor Ramsay proposes for it the name 

 krypton (concealed) and the symbol Kr. In 

 a subsequent communication to the Royal 

 Society, Professor Ramsay and Mr. Travers 

 reported that on submitting argon to lique- 

 faction, a colorless liquid was obtained with 

 a white solid substance condensing partly 

 around the sides of the tubes and partly be- 

 low the surface of the liquid. A gas was ob- 

 tained from the liquid by distillation and col- 

 lected in two fractions. The spectrum of the 

 gas was characterized by a number of bright 

 red lines, one of which was particularly bril- 

 liant, and a brilliant yellow line, while the 

 green and blue lines were numerous but not 

 conspicuous. The measured wave length of 

 the yellow line showed that it is not identical 

 with those of sodium or helium, which equal 

 it in intensity. Density measurements gave 

 17.2 for the first fractionation and 14.7 for 

 the second — a result that encourages hopes 

 that when obtained in greater purity it may 

 have the density of about 11 requisite to 

 give it a place in the periodic table. The 

 name neon is proposed for this new gas. 

 The white solid substance which was ob- 

 tained with the liquid argon volatilized slow- 

 ly, but on wiping off the coating of snow 

 from the bulb with the finger was seen to 



