EVOLUTION IN THE SUNS 51 



what has been obtained is not a chemical 

 compound in the ordinary sense of the term, 

 but a chemical element higher up in the 

 periodic scale, and in all likelihood one of 

 those with which we have long been familiar. 

 This group of inert gases is conceivably a 

 halfway stage between electrons and ordinary 

 elements, requiring more electrons to be 

 added on, or a union of two such gases, 

 but as yet the necessary conditions are 

 unknown for the energy transformations, or 

 the electronic synthesis. 



CHAPTER III 



CHEMICAL EVOLUTION IN THE SUNS 



The history of the discovery of helium is one 

 of the most fascinating chapters in the whole 

 of science not merely in regard to the manner 

 in which the knowledge came, but also 

 because of the gradually dawning conviction 

 which it awakened in regard to cosmic 

 synthesis. 



In order to appreciate the beauty of the 

 discoveries in stellar chemistry and their 

 relationship to the discovery of helium, some 



