MIRACLES OF SCIENCE 



less than a millionth of a second after their forma- 

 tion, and Sir Joseph Thomson suggests that when 

 chemical combination or decomposition is occurring 

 in the tube the method may disclose the existence 

 of intermediate forms which have only a transient 

 existence. 



Already it has been shown that even an elementary 

 gas may consist of a mixture of a great many differ- 

 ent substances. In the case of oxygen, the photo- 

 graphs reveal no fewer than eight different forms 

 of atoms and molecules, ranging from individual 

 neutral atoms of oxygen to molecules composed of 

 six atoms with a positive charge of electricity. 



Thus the physicist not only photographs the 

 atoms, but records their intimate transformations 

 and combinations. 



THE NEW ALCHEMY 



All this is startling enough. But there are experi- 

 menters who believe that an even more wonderful 

 kind of atom-juggling lies within the possibilities of 

 the near future. Announcement made in London 

 early in 1913 seemed to foreshadow the solution of 

 the old problem of the alchemist the production of 

 gold in the laboratory. The paper which aroused 

 these more or less visionary expectations was given 

 jointly by Sir William Ramsay and Professors Nor- 

 man Collie and H. Patterson before the Chemical 

 Society of London at the meeting of February 6th, 

 1913. 



Professor Ramsay spoke by way of introduction, 

 and told of the finding of helium in a bulb which 



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