1913-] HINRICHS— TRUE ATOMIC WEIGHT OF BROMINE. 



545 



The question here raised is therefore of the highest practical as 

 well as scientific importance ; most assuredly, it cannot be settled by 

 a ballot, though such has recently been taken. Nor should it be 

 left to the decision of a select few for each country, but every indi- 

 vidual chemist should, on this as on any other important chemical 

 question, try to study sufficiently to enable him to form an opinion 

 of his own. 



To facilitate such a study on the part of the individual chemist, 

 we here present the laboratory work of Mr. Weber on bromine in 

 the most simple and direct way possible, without any refined tech- 

 nicalities : simply plotting the experimental results themselves (the 

 ratios of the actual weights) according to the zveight of the bromine 

 taken and the ratios found in each case. 



When the individual chemist inspects this diagram of the actual 

 weights taken and the ratios found, he will realize that we have 

 neither hypotheses to make nor theories to defend. We simply 

 have tried to look at the actual experimental data obtained in the 

 laboratory itself. We have divided the entire process into twelve 

 consecutive steps, each one being distinct and preparatory to the 

 next. 



I. The Weights, Taken and Found. 



TABLE I. 

 Weights, in Grammes, to One-tenth Mgr. 



5 The discrepancy is: HBr — (H -f- Br) and its theoretical value is 0, 

 of course. The actual value is once over i and twice over 2 mgr. : hence 

 the hundredth mgr. qf weighings have properly been dropped by me in copy- 

 ing the weights given by Weber. 



