NO. II STRUCTURE OF THE ATOM PARSON 19 



right (or vice versa). All these configurations are free from mag- 

 netic moment ; hence their presence in an atom would make for 

 diamagnetism. 



In its perfect symmetry, mobility, and very low magnetic energy, 

 the group of eight evidently has a combination of properties which 

 must make it more stable than groups of any number less than eight, 

 or of any number not much greater than eight, as a consideration of 

 the possibilities readily shows : it is reasonable, therefore, to suppose 

 that this group will tend to be formed rather than other groups. 



Further, the force retaining a magneton in a group of eight must be 

 decidedly greater (cet. par.) than the force between two single mag- 

 netons — probably quite twice as great — and, if the magneton rotates 

 with the velocity of light, would be great enough, in certain cases, to 

 bring about the transfer of a magneton from one atom to another. 

 We may then attribute to this effect that kind of combining action 

 which is characteristic of electronegative atoms such as those of 

 Oxygen or Chlorine. The former, as we shall see later, has six 

 valence magnetons, and the latter seven, and each succeeds in making 

 up a group of eight by extracting magnetons from other atoms. This 

 state of affairs can conveniently be represented in structural formulae 

 by placing a circle around the symbol for every atom that is the seat 

 of a group of eight thus formed, as follows : 



O 

 H-^Clj,- H-(5)-H , H{5)-Cl^o), H-H 



(2) . 



The theory thus allows for the transfer of electrons in certain cases 

 without requiring that it should be an inevitable accompaniment of 

 chemical union (cf. the H — H molecule), and is in exact accord with 

 the valence relations that are to be found in the short periods of the 

 Periodic Scheme. 



An atom containing exactly eight magnetons will neither extract 

 magnetons from other atoms nor, under ordinary conditions, part 

 with ifs own, and will have the properties of the Helium atom (cf. 

 also its diamagnetism, §2). The photographs in plate 2 are thus a 

 diagrammatic representation of the Helium atom, according to this 

 theory. 



§7. The Constitutions of the Atoms 



The singular properties of the group of eight may possibly explain 

 the sequence of the elements throughout the Periodic Scheme also. 

 It is at once evident that a separation of all the magnetons in the 



