290 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIII. No. 1369 



production of stains is ttrough the coopera- 

 tion of scientists. After determining some 

 one reliable line of stains we should make 

 this line standard as the Griibler stains were 

 once, and discourage the entrance of new 

 manufacturers into this rather limited field. 

 The line selected as standard need not be all 

 the output of any one laboratory; but the 

 production of any one stain in several differ- 

 ent laboratories is an unnecessary waste of 

 effort. All the distributors of stains are 

 anxious to avoid this sort of duplication, and 

 whenever one has been approached in the 

 matter, most hearty cooperation has been 

 assured us. 



To carry out this program means consider- 

 able preliminary work to determine which 

 of the domestic sources of each stain is the 

 most reliable. Although we have consider- 

 able light on this subject already, and can 

 in many cases make private suggestions of 

 possible value to purchasers, we have not as 

 yet the data necessary for making any official 

 statement. We are now planning a series of 

 tests of the most important bacteriological 

 dyes in a considerable number of different 

 laboratories, the outcome of which may 

 determine our future action in the matter. 

 As a society of bacteriologists we are of 

 course primarily interested in the most com- 

 monly used bacterial stains, such as fuchsin, 

 methylen blue, the gentian violet group, and 

 the prepared blood stains. Secondarily, how- 

 ever, we are interested in securing the cooper- 

 ation of other biologists in an attempt to 

 standardize eventually the whole field. 



This article is being written in the hopes 

 of securing this cooperation. We wish to 

 invite other biologists as individuals and 

 through their organizations to work with us 

 in the matter. Any one interested in our pur- 

 pose is urged to communicate with the com- 

 mittee. 



H. J. OoNN, Chairman, 



Committee on Bacteriological Technic, of 

 the Society of American Bacteriologists 



aoeioultueaii experiment station, 

 Geneva, N. T., 

 March 1, 1921 



SPECIAL ARTICLES 



THE STRUCTURE OF THE STATIC ATOM 



In attempting recently to derive the con- 

 ditions which determine the stability of chem- 

 ical molecules I was impressed by the im- 

 portance of the part played by Coulomb's law 

 of inverse square forces between charged 

 particles. In fact, by considering a static 

 arrangement of electrons according to the 

 models which I proposed two years ago, and 

 calculating the total potential energy by 

 Coulomb's law, I have found it possible not 

 only to determine the relative stability of 

 various substances but to calculate with rea- 

 sonable accuracy the heats of formation of 

 compounds even of widely varying types. 



In all such calculations, however, it is nec- 

 essary to assume that the electrons are kept 

 from falling into the nucleus by some un- 

 determined force, for Coulomb's law alone can 

 not account for this. According to Bohr's 

 theory of atomic structure, the requisite re- 

 pulsive force is nothing more than centrif- 

 ugal force due to rotation of the electrons 

 about the nucleus. This theory has been so 

 remarkably successful in accounting for the 

 spectra of hydrogen and helium that the 

 fundamental assumption of movement about 

 the nucleus has seemed justified, notwith- 

 standing the fact that this violates aU our 

 classical laws regarding the radiation of 

 energy from accelerated electrons. 



From the chemical point of view it is a 

 matter of comparative indifference what the 

 cause of the repulsive force is, so long as it 

 exists. I therefore endeavored to find what 

 law of repulsive force between electrons and 

 positive nuclei would produce an effect 

 equivalent to the centrifugal force of Bohr's 

 theory. 



According to Bohr the average kinetic 

 energy in any atom or molecule is half as 

 great as the average potential energy, but 

 opposite in sign. I therefore now assume that 

 this energy, which Bohr called kinetic, is 

 another form of potential energy dependent 

 upon certain quantum changes in the electron. 



