EVOLUTION IN THE SUNS 61 



purple, due, it has been supposed, to potassium 

 liberated in the glass from the chemical - 

 disintegration of the material of the glass 

 caused by the electronic bombardment. 



It is a well-known fact to all radiographers 

 that X-ray bulbs undergo slow changes in 

 their qualities on account of changes in the 

 nature of the vacuum within the bulb. This 

 subject demands more investigation than it has 

 hitherto received. The common view at the 

 present time is that helium and the electrons 

 (or alpha and beta particles) produced in X-ray 

 bulbs are detached from the material of the 

 negative electrode, but proof of this is lacking, 

 and it may well be that the electric energy 

 really synthesizes these first forms of matter 

 from the luminiferous ether which fills the 

 bulb. A strong point against the origin of 

 helium and electrons being from disintegra- 

 tion of more highly synthesized material of 

 bulb or electrodes is that the electrons are 

 invariably the same whatever the material 

 of the electrodes, while the disintegration 

 products of varying chemical molecules or 

 atoms should show great variations, as, for 

 example, a pulverized rock would show the 

 nature of its origin in the minute particles. 

 Also the number of exactly similar electrons 

 is enormous compared to the yield of rare 



