2-)! 



DISCOVERY 



copy. You maj- wondei what it means. Helium is 

 the name given to a hnc in the solar spectrum, known 

 to belong to an element, but that element has hitherto 

 been unknown on the earth. Krypton was what I 

 called the gas I gave Crookes, knowing the spectrum 

 to point to something new. 587 49 is the wave-length 

 of the brilliant line. It is quite overwhelming, and 

 beats argon." 



In April 1898, as the result of much thought, Ramsay 

 writes in the Annalcs de Chimie el de Physique^ : 



" I believe, therefore, that an element hitherto 

 unknown should find a place between helium and argon. 

 We have looked for this element in vain. However, 

 we have not given up the search, and if we succeed, 

 the discovery w'ould throw much light on the nature 

 of helium and argon." 



A month later the search had been rewarded, for 

 Ramsay with Travers had discovered Krypton 

 (" hidden ") in the least volatile portion of a large quan- 

 tity of liquid air, and only fourteen days after this Neon 

 (" new ") was found by the investigators. To cut a long 

 story short, the process was repeated with a still larger 

 quantity of liquid air, with the result that a very small 

 quantity of yet one gas more was discovered. This 

 was named Xenon (" stranger ") , andcompleted theseries 

 of gases in the atmosphere, which were all found to 

 be inactive and to have molecules containing but one 

 atom.. The work of Rutherford on Radio-activity 

 next attracted Ramsay's attention, and he determined 

 to see whether he could not fix the atomic weight of 

 the " emanation " from radium discovered by Ruther- 

 ford and Soddy ; that is, if it proved to be an 

 element. This involved the manipulation of cubic 

 millimetres of gas only, but in work of this kind Ramsay- 

 was a past-master. Soddy and he soon found that 

 the emanation gave rise to Helium, and thus they 

 established definitely the first known case of trans- 

 mutation. Seven years later Ramsay and Whytlaw 

 Gray actually determined the density of this emanation 

 and showed that it was a true gas, which they called 

 Niton ("shining"). Furthermore, it was shown to 

 fit into the Periodic Table' at the end of the series 

 of rare gases already discovered. 



Ramsay was a great traveller, and it was his wont 

 to try and learn enough of the languages of the countries 

 he visited, either on pleasure or business, to enable 

 him to converse with the people. Among the journeys 

 he took, mention may be made of one to Stockholm 

 to receive the Nobel Prize. He was, in point of fact, 

 a very notable linguist, and was able to lecture with 

 ease in three languages, and to conduct an international 

 assembly in as many tongues, in itself no mean ac- 

 complishment. E. Cahen. 



» Discovery. Feb. 1920, p. 42. 



Reviews of Books 



Applied Eugeyiics. By P. Popenoe and R. H. Johnson. 

 (The Macmillan Company, 14s. net.) 



This book gives an excellent account of Eugenics and 

 the relation of this subject to the affairs of everyday life. 

 Mr. Johnson is a professor in the University of Pittsburg ; 

 Mr. Popenoe is the editor of the Journal of Heredity, which 

 is the organ of the American Genetic Association. 



What is eugenics, and what are those people who talk 

 about it trj'ing to do ? Eugenics concerns itself with the 

 improvement of the human race. Eugenists wish society 

 to encourage the bringing into being of superior persons, 

 and to discourage that of inferiors. Expressed more 

 fully, the problem of eugenics is to make such legal, social, 

 and economic adjustments that (l) a larger proportion 

 of superior people will have children than at present; 

 (2) that the average number of children of each sujjerior 

 person will be greater than at present; (3) that the most 

 inferior people will have no children ; and, finally, that 

 (4) other inferior people will have fewer children than 

 now. 



There is a good deal of misconception about the nature 

 and methods of eugenics. Jilany people do not understand 

 what it is about, nor do they want to. Some imagine it 

 involves the removal of much personal liberty ; lethal 

 chambers loom on the horizon . Others oppose it for reasons 

 which are discredited bj' our present knowledge of biology 

 and sociology. A book like this, which frankly states the 

 case of eugenics, and shows the bearing of the subject 

 on many of the important issues of present-day life, should 

 be widely read. It meets difficulties. It is out to help. 

 The Great War has caused great damage to the sounder 

 portion of those nations engaged in it, and the next genera- 

 tion will have a larger proportion of weaker members than 

 it would have otherwise. Because of this calamity the 

 question of eugenics can no longer be considered merely 

 academic. Fear of racial decline has brought it to the 

 fore. In fiftj' years from now it will be a very big and 

 important subject. 



The opening chapter leaves no doubt upon the mind of 

 the reader of the authors' view upon the relative claims 

 of heredity and environment in producing superior people. 

 They show that changes in a man's surroundings have 

 little influence in changing the nature he has inherited, 

 and that such changes are not transmitted to his 

 children. 



The authors then go on to discuss differences among 

 men, the inheritance of mental capacities, the laws of 

 heredity and natural selection. The origin and growth 

 of the Eugenics movement is ne.xt fully described, and the 

 extraordinary difficult and deUcate problem of restricting 

 the birth of children of physically and mentally inferior 

 persons ; and the other problem of increasing the marriage 

 of superiors are very clearly and ably dealt with. 



The book is written tliroughout in a clear style. It is 

 not tlie least bit too technical for the average reader. The 

 illustrations are good and well chosen. 



