350 



NA TURE 



[February 7, 1895 



at wh'ch oxyijen liq ie*i*s. Its nnexoect*dly low cr'tical tem- 

 perature and boiling point «eem to have some relation lo its 

 anexpectedly simple molecular constilulion. 



After the reading of the three foregoing papers, a discussion 

 followed, of which we give the most iin|iortant parts. 



Dr. 11. E. .\rmstron^ said thai the case for the existence of 

 the new cmslituent was undoubtedly a very sirong one, .ind 

 woul t, no doubt, meet with very considerable criticism ihrou.h- 

 out the oorld. But, apart from the tacts which were brought 

 forward, there was a portion which was of a wildly speculative 

 character : viz. the portion dealing «iih the probable naturs of 

 this new clement. .Apparently the authors were not entirely 

 sa isfied with the evidence to be adduced from the application of 

 the Clausius method for the determination of the atomicity of 

 the gas. It was quite conceiv.able that the condition which Prof 

 Ramsay pointed out as being the only aliernaiive to ihe one 

 which was apparently accepted by the authors of the communi- 

 cation, is a cncciiable condition. It was quite liUely that the 

 two atoms existed so firndy locked in each other's embrace, tl at 

 there was no possibility for them to take notice of an>thing out- 

 side, and that ihcy were perfectly content to roll on toijether 

 without talcing up any of the energy that is put into the molecule. 

 The spcctr scopic evidence was not sufficient to justif> the con- 

 clusion tha' the new cas was a mixture. Tne great difficulty in 

 .■\ccep:ing ihe conclusion that the gas was an clement having a 

 molecular weight of 40, and an at niic weight of 40, arose fr'm 

 the difficulty of placing an element of that kind. All these 

 matters, however, would have to be discussed later on more 

 fully: they were matters which could only be discussed very 

 gradually, as m^rc was leanied about the nc* substance. 



Pr.f. .v. W. Riickersaid that ihe one cer'ainfact whi^h came 

 out indisputably from ihe fac's dcscri'ied by Prof R.imsay was, 

 that in spi c of ihc doubt wbi.h may have existed on ti e ma'ter 

 for Ihc last few weeks or months, it was certain that ihey ha I 

 now a new cons iiucnt of the atmosphere. It seemed 10 him that 

 one of the most interesting resuls arrived at from the ^<h>si. al 

 point of view was the fact that the gas was monaomic, arguing 

 Irom the determine^ ratio of the specinc heats. Tne expC' i<nents 

 carried out by Lord Rajleigh and Prof. Ramsay made it certain 

 that the element had the particular ratio of 'petific heats men- 

 tioned. Well, then the question arose. What followed from 

 this ? In order ihat this ratio mi.jhl be o'ltained it was necessary 

 that the atom wi'h which they were de.iling should he rei;arded as 

 spheiical. In conclusion, I. e said tha' whatever the effect mi4ht be 

 upon the great chemical generalisation of Mendeleeff', that was, 

 after all, an empirii.al Law based at present upon no dyna- 

 mical foundation. If it held i's own in this case, it would, 

 of course, strengthen the belief in it, bu'. on the other hand, 

 Ihe law did not stand on the looting of thise great 

 mechanical generalisations which could not be upset without up- 

 sc:ting the whole of our lundamcnlal notions ol science. 



Prof. Roberts Austen remaiked that in the Bessemer process 

 alone some ten tons of iron were put into a vessel called a con- 

 verter. During the conversion no less than ico 000 cubic feet 

 of airpasscd thtou)>h the fluid iron. Therefore 1000 cubic fert of 

 argon w.nt «omcwhere. He had taken Bcssrmcr-blown melal 

 which hi'i n'i" Uccn ireatcd with ferro-manganese, and pumped 

 out forty limes its volume of gas, of which one-iwentieih was 

 nilr.jgen. In that nitrogen he had not been able to detect any 

 argon that could not have come from the water which was 

 necessarily used in the manipulation. It remained to be seen 

 whether Ihe argon found its way into Ihe iron, and if it siaycd 



there, whether c 

 different from o ' 

 this 1000 cubic fic. 

 air or in'o the iron 



I/.t!l;l^^ i ■' i 



the 



UL-iily ihi 

 hiated, w.i 



munualc 1 



iiriiiesthat made Bessemer metal 



: steel could be tr.iced lo some of 



which had either passed into the 



gas thfre are no internal iroli>ns of any c- nsequence. Now, if 

 I' ealoms in a m Ic' ule are so bouni lOi^eh. rlhal hardly any 

 internal nv tions exist, it wou d, s^' far as spe inc heat is con- 

 cerned, behave like a monatomic eleii en'. That ihe atoms in 

 argi n n ay be very cloely connecte ' seems lisely liom its very 

 g eat chemical in- nne-ss. Heme the <■. nc usi n r.m ihe ratio 

 of I'S spccihc I eais may be, not iha i' is in nat.nii ■, but that 

 i'S aion s a'e so biuni toge her in its mOeiu'e that 

 Ihe m' Iccnle behaves as a win le a.s it ii wis monaiomic." 

 It was d ffiouli to conceive ihe p ossibiii y of such an eccenlri- 

 cally-shapid atom as ihat 10 move a 'oui with lUt acquiring a 

 consideal.le tnt-rgy of rotation. He therefore thoUj;ht that 

 the only interpretation was that the sias was m iiiatomic. 



Lord K'-lvin remarked as to the c md ti n under which 

 Ihe raiio of the specific heals c uM be e\flcily I •66, Ihat he 

 did not admit that a spherical atom c uld fulfil that condition. 

 A spherical atom would not be abs jiutely smooth. In other 

 words, it iiius' be a Boscovitch point. In fact, ihe only kind of 

 a'om Ihat could beconceiveii as yiving, in the d>namic.vl theory 

 of heal, rigoously the raiio i 66 (or the specific hea', was the 

 ideal Hoscovich ma'hemaical iioint enlowe I wuh ihe |>ropertjr 

 ofineriia, and with ihe other property of acting Uj^ion neighbour- 

 ing points with a force depending upon distance. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATJONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Oxford. — A meeting was held on Monday last, in Ihe rooms 

 of the Regius I'rofes-or of Medicine, at ihe University Museum, 

 and was at ended by all the scientific professors and leachers 

 of the University, wiih the exception of i.re or two, who, being 

 unable to be present, expressed their concmrence hy letter. 

 It was unanimously resolved ihat a mrmoiial tonnecnng Sir 

 Heniy Acland's name in a permanent manner wih the Univer- 

 sity Museum should be esiablished. Sjmpadiv was generally 

 expressed wiih the scheme already bef re iKc public, but it was 

 felt ihal a more distinctly peisonal memorial in the Museum 

 was desirable. The future consideraii ^n of ihe proposal will 

 be the subject of a S'-cond nieeting to be I e'd shoiily. 



Mr. A. Tievor Battje deliveied a leciu e before Ihe Ash- 

 molean Society, on hlonday last, entiiled " Ice-bound in 

 Kolgnev." The leciuier narraied his personal experiences, 

 and gave an account of Ihe manners and customs of the 

 Samoyedi, illustrated by numerous laniern-slides and specimens, 

 and he also described ihe orniiholojjical fia'ures of ihe island. 



The Siblhorpian Professor of Kuial Economy, Mr. R. 

 Waringlon, F.R.S., gave his inaugural lecture to a large 

 audience in tte University Museum on Mondny afternoon. 

 The ubjccl cl o-en was "The Present Kelaions of Agricul- 

 tural Art and Natural Science." He deplored the want of 

 really good agiicultural and horticultural libiaries. 



Camhkidc'.e. — The election lo the Sadie ian Professorship 

 ol Pure Maihemaiics, vacant by the death of P<o(. Ca)ley, will 

 be held on Monday, February 25, at 230 pm. The names 

 and testimonials ol candidates are 10 be sent 10 the Vice- 

 Chancellcr by Monday, Kelruary iS. The elector- .nrc the Vice- 

 Chancellor (Mr. Austen Lei^h), Dr. Phear, I 'r. Ferrers, Dr. 

 Ta)lor, Sir G. G. Stokes, Sir R. S. Ball, and Prof. G. H. 

 Darwin. 



The Observatory Syndicate propose the appointment of a 

 Second Assist ml Observer, at a -tipend ol j^ioo a year. The 

 appointment will be for five year», and will be made by the 

 Director, with the consent of the Vice-Chancellor. 



■1- of his remark*, referred to Ihe ar- 

 ity ol the gas. Ol course, what , 

 rnienl was ihal the whole, or ^ 

 j;ns,- when it was 

 V of its ir.inslatory 

 0.1 10 be attributed to 

 At first sight il seemed 

 11 Vic no rotation in the 

 the gas. I'bat condition wa^ nfl by the suggestion 

 licen put forward, and wliiili had also been c im- 

 by Prof. FitrgcraM, in the fdlowing woids : 

 "The leason why Ihe ratio of sjiecific heils of l"66 is sup- 

 poH'd lo piove monalomicily in a ga-s ii because in a monatomic 



NO, 1319. VOL. 51] 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. 



AmtrUaii Afetiorological Journal, January. — Solar mag- 

 netism in meteorolog), by Prof. F. II. Iligelow. This article | 

 contains some general lemaiks on the pie.'cnt siaie of the i 

 pioblcms aiisingoul of Ihe relations thai have been Iraccd by > 

 the author's study of solar magnetism and its influences upon 

 mcieorological phenomena. Piol. Ibgc.ow endeavours to show 

 Ihat the uually accepted mode of propa^jaiion of energy from 

 Ihe sun to the earih is nol Ihe only one iha: exisis, and suggests 

 thai another possible mode is due lo polarised solar magnetic 

 force, such as surrounds a magnet. '1 he progress ol ihe investi- 

 gallon was inode in ihicc dl^tlncl stage- : (i; llie detection of 

 the Hue period ol the sun's rot.ilion ; (2) ihc uelcrmination of 



