213 



It is clear that this can hardly take place otherwise than on 

 intimate contact, and here the significance of tiie formation of a 

 componnd between catalyst and the inolecnles to be activated, even 

 thongh it be one that can very easily be dissociated, comes to the 

 fore. In the light investigation it was only the primary and secondar}'^ 

 alcohols that were easily oxidized, and not the hydrogen itself and 

 a nnmber of hydrogen componnds, evidently becanse the former 

 could, the latter conld not be attached by the ketone. 



As has been said in the introdnction, not only must the conception 

 of dislocation be defined more closely, but it must also be tried to 

 find a mathematical form for it through the consideration of the 

 thermo-dynamic and kinetic relations. 



Of late years many scientists have occupied themselves with studies 

 of the reaction velocities, which are also the subject of this investi- 

 gation. We may mention the names of Trautz, Marcelin, Lewis, 

 Perkin, and Scheffer '). 



It seems to me that Schkffer's considerations have the greatest 

 value for the knowledge of the significance of the (^//^/cca^/o??, because 

 there the question is put whether a formula for the phenomena of 

 diffusion (drawn up by Kohnstamm) is also valid for the description 

 of the reaction velocities, and this question is answered in an 

 affirmative sense. 



For the chemical phenomena are essentially phenomena of diffusion 

 in w^hich particularities will occur only in the partial mutual pene- 

 tration of atoms and molecules. In Scheffer's theoretical research 

 the significance of these particularities, which were represented in 

 the form of thermo-dynamic relations of the "intermediate states", 

 was clear. It is self-evident that it is exactly these relations which 

 are modified by the catalyst, and that comparison of these relations 

 without and with the catalyst, must lead to a standard of the 

 dislocation. 



Scheffer's simple equation of the relation between the reaction 

 constant, the quantities in question, and the temperature is: 



lnk = ^^ + B. 



In this Et — Eh a measure for the difference of energy 

 between the reacting substances and the intermediate state at the 

 reaction '), B contains the differences of entropy and constants 



" 1) These Proceedings Vol. XIII, p. 789 and Vol. XV, p. 1109. 



') It is the energy which a gram -molecule requires above the mean energy at 

 the lemp. T in order to react, and which is sometimes expressed by the name 

 of energy-increment. 



