CHAPTER VIII 



MATTER AND ITS DEMATERIALISATION 



We have told in previous chapters how the atoms, 

 formerly thought so impenetrable and indestruc- 

 tible, are soft and breakable, and really consist of 

 whirling particles. We have told how certain 

 atoms in the process of breaking down become 

 transformed into other atoms {e.g. radium into 

 helium and lead), and how, thus, the dream of the 

 alchemists has come true. We have described, 

 further, the enormous velocity of the /5 corpuscles 

 and the heat and power they can develop. We have 

 shown that, no matter what the kind of atom, the 

 electrons are always the same in mass and general 

 character, and that, therefore, they must form the 

 urstoff., the prima materia^ the protyle of all kinds of 

 atoms — whether oxygen or gold. All these are 

 astounding and amazing facts, but there is a story 

 stranger still to tell. It seems that the electrons, 

 the splinters of the atoms, are not radiant matter, 

 are not a " fourth form of matter," are not matter 



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