Nipher — Nature of the Electric Discharge. 13 



From this equation it would appear that if the capac- 

 ity of the condenser per unit length is infinite oi p = l, the 

 velocity v will be zero if R > 0. 



On the other hand if the velocity v were made equal 

 to that of light, E being in electrostatic units 



logeP=l^SxWR 



If E is measured in ohms 



0.434294X3X101^X10^ 



= 0.007238 R 



R 



The values of p for various values R are given in 

 Table I. 



Table I Table II 



v='^XW P = 1.0016+ 



If the value of p be made 1.00164+ as in the case given 

 in the first line of Table I, the value of v for the various 

 values of E are given in Table II. The current delivered 

 will of course depend on the value V. 



The quantity of electricity per unit length of the con- 

 denser core is 



dL~ 2 lOQeP ^ Rv~ V 



The current in terms of the velocity v is therefore 



dQ 



i = v 



dL 



If we now consider the conditions within the wire of 

 resistance E, to which this current is being delivered, v 



