HYPOTHESIS OF RADIANT MATTER 73 



at low temperatures with the exception that its liquid 

 form shows no vapor pressure but has in addition remark- 

 able energy effects, and has, undoubtedly, undergone trans- 

 formation in Ramsay's hands. Bearing in mind the infinitesi- 

 mal quantities of emanation which Ramsay and his associates 

 could obtain, we are alike astounded by their marvelous 

 manipulative dexterity and by the nature of their observa- 

 tions. First we had the gradual appearance of helium, when 

 the emanation was stored by itself; then came the appearance 

 of neon, when the emanation came into contact with water, 

 the latter being partially decomposed into oxygen and hydro- 

 gen; lastly the partial reduction of copper nitrate solution, 

 with the simultaneous appearance of lithium, while the ema- 

 nation underwent a change into argon. The lithium, we are 

 assured/ could not be found in the original materials; it repre- 

 sents about .01 per cent of the sodium and calcium found in the 

 same experiment; its actual amount, after correcting a slight 

 oversight in Ramsay's estimate, would be 0.00000003 gram. 

 For such a quantity the amount of copper transformed would 

 be too minute for the detection of a loss from the 0.3 gram 

 of copper which the original solution may be assumed to have 

 contained: but, until a loss of copper be ascertained, to corre- 

 spond with the gain in lithium, it appears to me that the as- 

 sumption of transformation is premature. Ramsay found that 

 this solution contained in all 1.67 mg. alkaline chlorides, 

 chiefly sodium chloride; while 0.79 mg. was produced in a 

 blank experiment, when the emanation was excluded. While 

 this latter amount is admittedly derived from the glass bulb, 

 the excess obtained in the presence of emanation is ascribed 

 to the degradation of the copper, neglecting the fact that this 

 second solution must have been fairly acid and would, there- 

 fore, have attacked the glass more vigorously. Accepting his 

 suggestion, however, the deficit of copper ought to approach 



