September 21, 1917] 



SCIENCE 



279 



3. (1) and (2) together imply that the aggre- 

 gate of the local intensity of magnetization per 

 unit volume of a diamagnetic substance is com- 

 parable with the saturation intensity of magnetiza- 

 tion of a ferro-magnetic substance. 



4. The above results lead to a correct estimate 

 of the energy (potential) associated with the crys- 

 talline structure, in virtue of the molecular group- 

 ing, as tested by the magnitude of the latent heat. 



5. Lastly, unless the forces binding the diamag- 

 netic molecules together were of the order of mag- 

 nitude stated, we should not be able to detect a 

 departure of the experimental value of the spe- 

 cific heat near the fusion point from the value 

 calculated on Debye'si^ theory [of specific heat]. 

 Every substance investigated by Nernst and 

 Lindemann discloses such a departure. 



The above evidence is sufficient to establish the 

 existence of an intense local molecular field of the 

 order W gauss, if interpreted magnetically, in 

 those diamagnetic crystalline substances (about 40 

 of which have been investigated) which show a 

 measurable change of x [specific magnetic suscepti- 

 bility] on crystallization. 



10. Finally, Professor Ernest Merritt, 

 in an address to the American Physical So- 

 ciety in 1915, showed, through the fluores- 

 cence bands of uranium salts, interesting 

 evidence of the existence of atomic mag- 

 netic fields of the order 10^ gauss. 



Hence, from all the foregoing, which 

 could be greatly elaborated, it seems that 

 there is much and varied evidence in favor 

 of the assumption that atoms have very 

 powerful magnetic fields, due, presumably, 

 to orbital revolutions of electrons. 



Of course no one claims that more than 

 a mere beginning has been made in the so- 

 lution of the problem of the atom, but 

 there is abundant evidence from many 

 sources that this beginning is real. 



"W. J. Humphreys 



V. S. Weather Bureau, 

 "Washington, D. C. 



KENTUCKY AS AN OIL STATE 



At the present writing (June, 1917) Ken- 

 tucky stands in the limelight as a prospective 

 oil state. Due to the fact that the Irvine Dis- 



12 Ann. dcr Phys., 39, 789, 1912. 



trict of Estill County has been extended over 

 a large area together with the greatly renewed 

 activity in the older Kentucky fields, operators 

 are now turning their attention to the state 

 as a whole. This is particularly true of oil 

 men from the Mid-continent Field. So it ap- 

 pears that the latter part of this year and the 

 early months of 1918 will forever settle the 

 question as to the state's potential rank in the 

 production of petroleum and natural gas. 

 Test wells are to be drilled in nearly every 

 county in the state and the most modern ap- 

 plications of petroleum geology are being 

 freely used. Up to the present time most of 

 the " wild cat " work has progressed only to 

 the mapping or leasing state, but the high 

 standing of the companies interested is a good 

 indicator of the developments that undoubtedly 

 wiU follow. 



There are four important geological factors 

 that are always met in the search for new oil 

 fields. When all of them are found to work in 

 harmony great fields, like those of Oklahoma, 

 Kansas and Texas or those of Pennsylvania, 

 Ohio and West Virginia, are the result. Geo- 

 logical " structure," such as anticlines, domes, 

 etc., constitute only one of these factors. A 

 large nurflber of Structures do not produce oil 

 or gas. They may or may not produce salt 

 water. Furthermore, they may lie in what 

 wotdd be considered favorable regions. In 

 such cases the detail which may have been ex- 

 pended in mapping them is of no avail. 

 Such conditions result from failure of one or 

 more of the three other factors, namely either 

 (1) there is no open "sand" or other porous 

 medium under the structure to serve as a re- 

 tainer for oil and gas; or (2) there has never 

 been present any salt water or other water in 

 the sand to serve as a concentrating factor; 

 that is, no gathering of oil and gas from a 

 disseminated state to a commercial body; or 

 (3) there is an absence of petroliferous shale 

 or other fossil-bearing rocks that produce oil 

 in a disseminated form. 



Now the future of Kentucky as an oil state 

 depends on the four factors above mentioned: 

 (1) structure, (2) sand, (3) water, (4) original 

 oil. There can be no question about the state 



