September 26, 1907] 



NA TURE 



545 



experiments with the object of determining more definitely 

 the properties and chemical behaviour of this elusive 

 parent. The general manner of proceeding has been to 

 obtain as complete a solution as possible of known weights 

 of different uranium minerals. These solutions have been 

 treated in the manner described in my earlier communi- 

 cation, with special precautions and modifications. The 

 growth of radium in the solutions of the rare earths 

 finally obtained was determined by measurements of the 

 amount of radium emanation present at frequent intervals, 

 and the rate of growth was calculated by an expression 

 which took into account the rate of production of the 

 emanation by the radium. The minerals used included 

 carnotite, Joachimsthal pitchblende, gummite, uranophane, 

 and a specimen of very pure uraninite from North Caro- 

 lina containing only 003 per cent, of material insoluble 

 in dilute nitric acid. 



The space available in these columns will permit of 

 only a brief mention of some of the more interesting 

 results. In confirmation of Rutherford's statement it was 

 found that the rate of production of radium was not in- 

 fluenced appreciably by the presence of radio-actinium and 

 its products, which were completely absent from most of 

 the solutions at the start. Continued observations of the 

 growth of radium in the first solution prepared indicate 

 that the rate of production of radium has been constant, 

 within the limits of experimental error, for a period of 

 more than 500 days. 



I have attempted with one of my preparations to re- 

 peat the separation of the radium parent from actinium 

 by the ammonium sulphide treatment which Rutherford 

 has described. No separation could be detected when 

 freshly prepared, pure ammonium sulphide was used. It 

 was found that the radium parent can be quite completely 

 separated from actinium by repeated precipitation with 

 sodium thiosulphate under the conditions nsual for the 

 precipitation of thorium. In the case of a solution of the 

 parent substance with thorium and other rare earths 

 treated in this manner, less than i per cent, of the 

 parent present remained in the filtrate, as was shown 

 by the growth of radium in the two fractions obtained 

 in this process. Since ammonium sulphide is always open 

 to suspicion unless freshly prepared, and since on stand- 

 ing in loosely stoppered bottles it ultimately changes 

 wholly into ammonium thiosulphate, it appears probable 

 that the separation noticed by Rutherford was due to the 

 latter reagent. 



An interesting relation has been noticed between the 

 growth of radium and the activity of the substances other 

 than thorium in my solutions containing the radium 

 parent. This proportionality is quite striking in those 

 solutions containing the more completely purified salts. 

 The activity of the substance present in these salts is 

 comparatively high, and is about equal to the activity 

 of the radium (itself) with which it is associated in the 

 mineral. More significant still is the fact that this radio- 

 active substance does not appear to possess any of the 

 characteristic properties of the recognised radio-activ'e 

 elements. It is impossible that it is uranium, thorium, 

 radium, or polonium. It has none of the properties that 

 have been given as characteristic of actinium. About 

 four-tenths of a gram of thorium oxide, containing an 

 amount of this new body sufficient to give a leak of 500 

 divisions per minute in an a-ray electroscope, did not 

 produce sufficient actinium emanation to permit its de- 

 tection in another electroscope of greater sensitiveness. 

 The thorium oxide had been prepared some weeks before 

 by the gentle ignition of the oxalate, and was very 

 porous. A strong current of air, about four litres per 

 minute, was drawn over the preparation. There was no 

 difficulty in measuring the thorium emanation evolved by 

 this material under these conditions. 



That the active substance is not actinium is also in- 

 dicated by the fact that from a solution more than five 

 months old no active substances other than thorium pro- 

 ducts could be separated by treatment with ammonia, by 

 the formation of finely divided sulphur from sodium thio- 

 sulphate, or by the precipitation of considerable quantities 

 of barium sulphate in the solution. The first process 

 should have separated actinium X, and the two last should 

 have separated radio-actinium had these products been 



NO. 1978, VOL. 76] 



present. The solution contained about 3 grams of 

 thorium and a quantity of the new substance having an 

 activity equal to that of about 35 grams of pure uranium. 



Another important matter is the behaviour of the o.xides 

 obtained by strongly igniting the hydroxides precipitated 

 by ammonia from a solution similar to the above. The 

 activity of these oxides remains nearly constant for long 

 periods, showing only a slight initial rise corresponding 

 to the formation of thorium X in the thorium present. 

 No rise corresponding to the formation of actinium X can 

 be observed, but if actinium were present a separation 

 of this product would be expected. 



For these and certain other reasons I think that there 

 is good cause for believing that uranium minerals con- 

 tain an element emitting a rays, which is different from 

 the other elements that have been identified, which pro- 

 duces no emanation, and which resembles thorium in its 

 chemical properties. The activity of this element appears 

 to be about the same as that of the radium (itself) with 

 which it is associated in minerals. It is without doubt 

 a product of uranium, and is probably the immediate 

 parent of radium. It is very likely that this body is con- 

 tained in Debierne's actinium preparations and in Giesel's 

 " emanium " compounds, especially in the former, and 

 its presence may perhaps explain the confusion which has 

 resulted from Debierne's earlier assertions that actinium 

 accompanied thorium as opposed to Giesel's positive state- 

 ments to the contrary {Chem. Berichte, xl., 301 1). The 

 proportion of the total activity of a mineral due to the 

 actinium present is very small, for the activity which 

 can be attributed to actinium is less than 9 per cent, of 

 the total. 



The rate of disintegration of radium as determined 

 from its growth in preparations similar to those described 

 above, separated with great care from very pure North 

 Carolina uraninite, indicates that the half-value period of 

 this element is about iqoo years. It is hoped that certain 

 experiments now in progress will make it possible to 

 determine this factor with a satisfactory degree of 

 certainty. Bertram B. Boltwood. 



Sloane Laboratory, Yale University, New Haven, 

 Conn., September 9. 



The Body of Queen Tii. 



In Nature of September 12, p. 494, a summary descrip- 

 tion was given of the remarkable discovery made by Mr. 

 Theodore M. Davis, of Newport, R.I., of the tomb of the 

 famous Egyptian Queen Tii, Thyi, or Tele, mother of 

 the heretic-king Akhenaten, at Thebes. A remarkable 

 point with regard to this discovery has been raised by an 

 " Occasional Correspondent " of the Times, who Informs 

 us that the supposed remains of the queen, after having 

 been examined by Dr. Elliot Smith, turn out to be those 

 of a young man, at most twenty-five years of age ! It is 

 concluded therefrom that the discoverers were mistaken 

 in their attribution of these remains, and that the coffin 

 is not that of the queen at all, but of Akhenaten, whose 

 name appears on it ; but this cannot be the case. On 

 the catafalque the inscription definitely states that it was 

 given by Akhenaten to his mother Til, and the mention 

 of Akhenaten 's name only on the coffin need mean also no 

 more than this. The coffin is that of a queen ; the 

 diadem and necklace and other objects found are also 

 the parure of a queen, not of a king, and the heads of 

 the canopic jars are portraits of Tii. 



The fact that the body found with the^e things is that 

 of a man would mean simply that, as Prof. Sayce says in 

 a letter on the subject published in the Times of 

 September 17, " the mummy of the Queen had been torn 

 to pieces like that of the King ; and that, subsequently, 

 when an attempt was made to put the tomb in order, the 

 first mummy that came to hand was thrust into the 

 Queen's jewelry wrappings, and coffin. It was not the 

 first time that the Egyptians resorted to similar measures, 

 and it would explain the otherwise puzzling absence of 

 funeral furniture in the tomb." 



In an article published in the Graphic of September 14 

 describing the tomb, I assumed that the weight of Dr. 

 Elliot .Smith's medical authority was decisive, and that 

 therefore the body must be regarded as that of a man. 



