60 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS SECTION' B. 



Nitrogen gas N 2 is thus of the same structure as acetylene, i.e.,. 

 CX : CX as compared with CH: CH ; and the "metameric" gas- 

 carbon monoxide has the same external structure as nitrogen and 

 acetylene, i.e., each atom having 5 electrons round it, of which 

 two form a neutral pair. The ordinary notation of this formula 

 would be C • O, which on my theory (and referring to the nuclei 

 only) is C \ CX 2 . This, of course, involves the actual transfer of an 

 electron from the oxygen atom to the control of the carbon atom. 

 This theory explains well why the two gases are almost identical phy- 

 sically, while there are still two "shells" in agreement with the- 

 Cp/Cv ratio, which is violated by the Lewis-Langmuir theory of 

 two nuclei inside one shell of electrons. 



The existence of nitric oxide in the form NO instead of N 2 2 

 is a stumbling block for all the existing theories of chemical 

 affinity. The problem is analogous to the existence of free atoms 

 in sodium vapour and hot iodine vapour. Probably the best pro- 

 visional explanation on my theory is to formulate it like carbon 

 monoxide, thus employing 10 of its 11 electrons, leaving the extra 

 electron in an outside position similar to that of sodium metal. 

 (See Fig. 11.) 



The nature of ammonia gas and ammonium ion may next be dis- 

 cussed. The former may be written, following Lewis, as in Fig. 12, 

 which having altogether 17 plus and 17 minus charges, is neutral. 

 It has, however, at one end a free pair of electrons and therefore 

 has an affinity for hydrion, which can add on at that point, giving 



TN U ^1 (dH + ).t which is ammonium ion, a substance which has 



the same saturated tetrahedral configuration as methane, but has 

 a total of 18 plus and 17 minus charges and is therefore positively 

 monovalent. Ammonium chloride contains this ion and the 

 chloride-ion existing side by side at some distance from each other 

 just as in sodium fluoride previously discussed. When the latter 

 is electrolysed the fluoride ion loses an electron, whilst the sodium 

 ion gains an electron and thus becomes metal. In the case of. 



ammonium also no doubt the metallic phase (NH^J^)^ must 

 come into existence for a moment,, but since the external electron 

 must be near a group q H+, the result is dissociation into a and 

 (H+0), i.e., into NH 3 gas and nascent hydrogen. 



The nature of water and steam on this theory is worth 

 notice. Following the analogy of ammonia as related to 

 methane, water (vapour) becomes as in Fig. 13, which 

 altogether has 18 plus and 18 minus charges, so is electrically- 

 neutral. It has two pairs of electrons left free and thus can 

 combine either once or twice with hydrion giving (OH 3 )+ and 

 (OH 4 )++. Liquid water and ice are the hydrates of these complex 

 ions, (OH,)+ (OH)' being H 4 2 and H G 3 being OH 4 )++ 

 (OH) 2 ". This theory accounts for the very low dissociation of 



water since owing to the combination, viz., [OH 3 J^] [OHJ^] 



