( 119 ) 



Meanwhile these figures have only an approximate value, since the 

 temperature of the room varied considerably during the last spring. 

 In the first place I investigated whether the adsorption of the museon 

 odour must be explained as an electrical phenomenon. The museon 

 gas, led over a sensitive electrometer, appeared to impart no charge 

 to it, but it is not impossible that the method was not sensitive 

 enough for this purpose. Therefore in the above described apparatus 

 numbered nickel-plated copper tubes were placed, facing an insulated 

 axially mounted steel rod of 3 millimetres thickness, so that an air 

 condenser was formed with a distance of 2.5 millimetres between 

 the cylindrical charged surfaces. The odd numbers are charged -)-, 

 the even ones — from the 220 volt continuous current main. Each 

 time, the exposition lasted a minute, the dielectric carrying the museon 

 passing in the ordinary way at a rate of 84 cm.' of air per second 

 The cylinders appeared to have assumed the odour of museon with 

 about the same intensity, to acquire later an odour of muse in the 

 same manner and to lose this in about the same time. The com- 

 parisons between the tubes were made by three observers, trained in 

 these experiments and independently of each other. ') 



Next the intluence of temperature was investigated, first on the 

 adsorption and next on the change of the smell of museon into that 

 of muse. For this purpose tubes of an alloy of lead and tin wen- 

 exposed for ten minutes at 0°, 13° and 100°. 



immediate impression odourless in 



exposition at 0° strong smell of museon 5 da\ s 



„ „ 13° distinct smell of museon 2 



„ ,, 100' no smell of museon i day 



Then numbered, nickel-plated copper tubes were exposed during two 

 minutes to the ordinary air-current, passing over the muscon-myristic 

 acid. The odd numbers were placed in the ice-box, the even ones 

 were left to themselves at the temperature of the room, each placed 

 in a wide-necked glass stoppered bottle. After 24 hours there appears 

 to be no statistical difference of any importance. All cylinders whether 

 even or odd, appear to have assumed a smell of muse in a distinct 

 though feeble degree. So the temperature coefficient of the surface- 

 action, exerted by nickel on the phenomenon of the transition of 

 museon into muse, cannot be great. 



J ) One of these observers has an ordinary acuteness of smell for the odour of 

 museon, but cannot state with certainty the transition of museon into muse. He 

 also has in other respects strongly deviating peculiarities of his organ of' smell 

 which will soon be extensively communicated. 



