286 THE THRESHOLD OF EVOLUTION 



and arrangement of atomic values in chemistry, and by means 

 of which, in the hands of competent scientists, a key may be 

 evolved as their application to the problems of atomic 

 chemistry is better understood. 



Turning to page 229 of Professor Soddy's work, " Matter 

 and Energy/* we read : " It is known that three a-particles, 

 or helium atoms, are expelled in the change of a uranium atom 

 into radium, and that in all, including the subsequent nume- 

 rous changes suffered by radium, eight a-particles are ex- 

 pelled. The atomic weight of uranium is 238.5. ..." This 

 number is exactly divisible by 9, so it appears to me that if 

 some such utilisation of my Table IV. of Trinity is employed, 

 it should place it as a final elementary product or as an ele- 

 ment incapable of further alloy as it is a multiple of 9. Then, 

 as the atomic value of helium is 4, it should probably, by the 

 rules of my Table, be a complete primary result. Mr. Soddy 

 continues : " And if we subtract the weight of the three 

 a-particles or helium atoms, which is 12 (12.1), we get the 

 figure 226.5 (9 226.4), which is almost exactly the value Mme. 

 Curie found by experiment." If 226.4 is correct, this again 

 is exactly divisible by 8, so should, by my Table, be an ever- 

 varying final state of radio-activity and one probably either 

 of constant alterability or unlimited in its powers of combining 

 to produce radio energy and heat, but it would be presumption 

 for a lay mind like mine to try to answer these problems. 



The utmost I dare do is to suggest their possibility 

 to the student of atomic chemistry for his investigation and 

 experiment. Mr. Soddy proceeds in the following manner : 

 "If we subtract the weight of eight helium atoms, or 32, from 

 238.5, we get the figure 206.5. If, then, in the changes of the 

 uranium atom nothing else except eight helium atoms are 

 expelled (the mass of the ft -particles expelled is too small 

 to be of importance), the final product should be an atom of 

 weight 206.5. The nearest element to this is lead ; the atomic 

 weight of this is 207." 



Now, it is asserted by other scientific authorities that the 

 atomic weight of lead is 205.35 ; but if the figure 206.5 is the 

 correct one, then, according to my idea, it would be exactly 

 divisible by seven. This, I presume, would probably indicate 

 that lead is a final result of uranium that could be mixed or 



