114 



CHEMISTRY. (Xsw SUBSTANCES.) 



flavors, with which the public have become fa- 

 in i I i;ir. there have been introduced heliotropine 

 (resembling heliotrope), ionine and iraldine (violet), 

 cumarine (new-mown hay), terpineol (lilac), ber- 

 gamiol or linaloyl acetate (bergamotte), nerolin 

 (neroly). jasmin oil, anesic aldehyde (hawthorn), 

 geranol (rose geranium), t-arvol (caraway oil), safrol 

 (oil of sassafras), etc. These products are used for 

 toilet soaps, and also enter largely into the composi- 

 tion of the essences named after the flowers. They 

 are more persistent than the natural odors. While 

 these artificial scents may deceive the public and 

 even be preferred by them, those who are accustomed 

 to handling delicate perfumes have not much diffi- 

 culty in distinguishing between the artificial and 

 tin- real ; and "it still taxes the skill of the chemist 

 and the art of the perfumer to obtain that subtle 

 delicacy of fragrance manufactured and elaborated 

 in Nature's own laboratory." 



Prof. Ramsay, who was assisted in his experi- 

 ments by Morris \V. Travers, communicated to the 

 French Academy of Sciences June 6 and to the 

 Royal Society June 9 the discovery of a fifth gas in 

 the atmosphere, krypton. Having been furnished 

 by Dr. Hampson with about 750 cubic centimetres 

 of liquid air and having allowed all but 10 cubic 

 centimetres to evaporate away slowly, on collecting 

 the gas from that small residue in a gasholder, the 

 authors obtained, after removal of oxygen with me- 

 tallic copper and of nitrogen with a mixture of pure 

 lime ana magnesium dust, followed by exposure to 

 electric sparks in presence of oxygen and caustic 

 soda, 26.2 cubic centimetres of a gas showing the 

 argon spectrum feebly, and, in addition, a spectrum 

 which, they believed, had not been seen before. 

 This spectrum was characterized by two very 

 brilliant lines, one almost identical in position with 

 D and almost rivaling it in brilliancy. There was 

 also a green line, comparable with the green helium 

 line in intensity, and a somewhat weaker green. 

 With these and other data of the spectrum given 

 in their communication, the authors felt justified 

 in characterizing the gas as a new one. Its density 

 was determined at from 22.47 to 22.51 as a minimum, 

 with a probable density of 40. The authors con- 

 cluded from these and their other observations that 

 the atmosphere contained a hitherto undiscovered 

 gas with a characteristic spectrum, heavier than 

 argon and less volatile than nitrogen, oxygen, and 

 argon, monatomic, and therefore an element. The 

 name krypton, or " concealed," was given to it, 

 with the symbol Kr. Its atomic weight was calcu- 

 lated to be about 80, and it is placed in the helium 

 series. 



The authors continued these experiments in the 

 search for gases in the atmosphere of a higher 

 density than ammonia, as supposed by Dr. John- 

 stone Stoney. On June 16 they communicated to 

 the Royal Society the results of experiments in 

 fractional ion of liquid argon. When the argon 

 was separated as a liquid from liquid air, a con- 

 siderable quantity of a solid was observed to 

 separate partially round the sides of the tube and 

 partially below the surface of the liquid. The 

 liquid was evaporated slowly and the solid 

 was volatilized. Two fractions of gas were col- 

 lected from the liquid, the spectrum of the first of 

 which was found to be characterized by a number 

 of bright-red lines, among which one was partic- 

 ularly brilliant, and a brilliant yellow line, while 

 the green and blue lines were numerous but com- 

 paratively Inooospicnotu. The wave length of the 

 yellow line was found to l>e different from that of 

 those of sodium, helium, and krypton, all of which 

 equaled it in intensity. A new gas was therefore 

 indicated which was named neon or "new." Its 

 density was estimated at 14.67, a figure approaching 



what the authors had hoped to obtain (10 or 11) to 

 bring it into its position in the periodic table. The 

 density has in fact been reduced by continued puri- 

 fication. Unlike helium, argon, and krypton, neon 

 is rapidly absorbed by the aluminum electrodes of 

 a vacuum tube, and the appearance of the tube 

 changes, as pressure falls, from a fiery red to a most 

 brilliant orange, which is seen in no other gas. 

 With a density of 9.6 and consequent atomic 

 weight of 19.2, neon would follow fluorine and pre- 

 cede sodium in the periodic table. The gas ob- 

 tained by the volatilization of the white solid that 

 remained after the liquid had boiled away, showed, 

 when introduced into the vacuum tube, a very com- 

 plex spectrum, totally differing from that of argon, 

 while resembling it in general character. The 

 density of this gas was determined to be 19.87, and 

 it was found to be monatomic. The name met- 

 argon was given to it, and it was regarded as a 

 distinct elementary substance, holding apparently 

 the position toward argon that nickel does toward 

 cobalt, having approximately the same atomic 

 weight, yet different properties. 



In a paper read before the British Association, 

 Prof. Ramsay described still another gas as found 

 in the last fractions of liquefied argon a heavier 

 gas than the others, which it was proposed to nan e 

 xenon. It is very easily separated, for it possesses 

 a much higher boiling point, and remains behind 

 after the other gases have evaporated. This gas, 

 which has been obtained comparatively free from 

 krypton, argon, and metargon, possesses a spectrum 

 analogous in character to that of argon, but differ- 

 ing entirely in the position of the lines. All the 

 gases described are present only in very small 

 amount. 



Prof. Charles F. Brush described to the Amer- 

 ican Association experiments with a supposed new 

 gas, a constituent of the atmosphere, for which he 

 proposed the name of etherion. He had dis- 

 covered it a year and a half previously while look- 

 ing for occluded hydrogen in glass, and after 

 many months of experiment had effected a partial 

 separation of it from the air by diffusion. Its 

 chief characteristic, as thus far determined, is its 

 enormous heat conductivity at low pressure, which, 

 even when it is mixed with a large excess of other 

 gases, is about a hundred times that of hydrogen, 

 the best gaseous conductor hitherto known. Evi- 

 dence was cited by the author in his paper to show 

 that etherion is a mixture of at least two different 

 gases. Prof. Brush believes that it is related to the 

 cosmic ether, whence the name he has given it. 

 Sir William Crookes has remarked that the pno- 

 erties attributed by Prof. Brush to etherion are 

 similar to those presented by the vapor of water 

 under certain conditions. 



In his presidential address at the British Associa- 

 tion. Sir William Crookes described a new element, 

 monium, as discovered by him among what lie 

 called the ' waste heaps of "the mineral elements." 

 In the course of his spectroscopic researches whh 

 the raw earths he found a group of lines high up in 

 the ultra-violet, faint at first, but which gnw 

 stronger with further purification, while the other 

 lines of yttrium, samarium, ytterbium, etc., became 

 fainter and " at last practically vanishing, left tiie 

 sought-for group strong and solitary." As the* 

 group of lines that betrayed its existence stood 

 almost at the extreme end of the ultra-violet 

 spectrum, the author proposed to name the mw 

 element monium. from the Greek p6vos, alone. It 

 offers a direct contrast to the recently discovered 

 gaseous elements by having a strongly marked 

 individuality, and exhibiting readiness to combine. 

 Sir W r illiam Crookes estimates the atomic weight 

 of monium as being not far from 118 greater than 



