﻿26 
  Mr. 
  R. 
  Tabor 
  Lattey 
  on 
  the 
  

  

  but 
  to 
  show 
  that 
  bodies 
  built 
  up 
  of 
  vortex 
  rings 
  would 
  have 
  

   such 
  momentum 
  and 
  energy 
  as 
  we 
  know 
  them 
  to 
  have 
  is, 
  in 
  

   the 
  present 
  state 
  of 
  the 
  theory, 
  a 
  very 
  difficult 
  task/' 
  

  

  Our 
  aspect 
  toward 
  nature 
  and 
  natural 
  law 
  is 
  constantly 
  

   shifting, 
  but 
  the 
  general 
  principles 
  underlying 
  science 
  remain 
  

   much 
  the 
  same. 
  No 
  amouut 
  of 
  mathematical 
  manipulation 
  

   will 
  enable 
  us 
  to 
  discover 
  the 
  fundamental 
  property 
  which 
  

   makes 
  the 
  external 
  world 
  evident 
  to 
  us. 
  Whatever 
  it 
  may 
  

   be 
  it 
  must 
  remain 
  for 
  us 
  a 
  mere 
  postulate, 
  call 
  it 
  what 
  we 
  

   will, 
  inertia, 
  mass, 
  or 
  energy. 
  If 
  we 
  abstract 
  this 
  attribute 
  

   from 
  ponderable 
  matter 
  we 
  assign 
  it 
  to 
  an 
  atom 
  ; 
  if 
  we 
  sub- 
  

   divide 
  the 
  atom 
  it 
  is 
  associated 
  with 
  a 
  subatom; 
  if 
  this 
  is 
  but 
  

   a 
  discontinuity 
  in 
  a 
  primitive 
  fluid 
  the 
  same 
  process 
  of 
  thought 
  

   occurs. 
  Not 
  only 
  is 
  this 
  pursuit 
  of 
  no 
  real 
  advantage 
  to 
  us, 
  

   it 
  is 
  a 
  hindrance, 
  as 
  it 
  apparently 
  confuses 
  the 
  purposes 
  of 
  

   science 
  which 
  should 
  attempt 
  to 
  express 
  the 
  phenomena 
  dis- 
  

   covered 
  by 
  experience 
  in 
  general 
  mathematical 
  laws. 
  The 
  

   discussion 
  of 
  the 
  postulates 
  of 
  science 
  is 
  extra-scientific 
  and 
  

   disturbs 
  the 
  boundaries 
  between 
  physics 
  and 
  metaphysics. 
  

   The 
  deductive 
  methods 
  of 
  the 
  pure 
  mathematician 
  are 
  un- 
  

   suited 
  to 
  experimental 
  science^ 
  and 
  however 
  little 
  we 
  may 
  

   value 
  the 
  discoveries 
  of 
  Bacon, 
  yet 
  he 
  did 
  announce 
  the 
  

   scientific 
  method 
  which 
  made 
  possible 
  modern 
  science. 
  VVe 
  

   should 
  avoid 
  many 
  a 
  pitfall 
  if 
  we 
  kept 
  in 
  mind 
  those 
  things 
  

   which 
  have 
  obstructed 
  natural 
  philosophy, 
  the 
  wrong 
  use 
  of 
  

   logic, 
  of 
  theology, 
  and 
  of 
  mathematics, 
  — 
  ^' 
  Mathematica, 
  quse 
  

   philosophiam 
  naturalem 
  terminare, 
  non 
  generare 
  aut 
  pro- 
  

   creare 
  debet." 
  

  

  If 
  I 
  have 
  seemed 
  to 
  put 
  undue 
  emphasis 
  on 
  this 
  latest 
  of 
  

   the 
  theories 
  of 
  matter 
  and 
  energy 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  because 
  of 
  its 
  

   uniqueness, 
  but 
  because 
  Dr. 
  Lewis 
  has 
  presented 
  his 
  ideas 
  

   without 
  the 
  complexity 
  which 
  usually 
  obscures 
  in 
  such 
  

   attempts 
  the 
  real 
  issue. 
  

  

  University 
  of 
  Cincinnati, 
  

   January 
  1909. 
  

  

  IV. 
  The 
  Ionization 
  of 
  Electrolytic 
  Oxygen, 
  

   By 
  Robert 
  Tabor 
  Lattey 
  *. 
  

  

  IN 
  1897 
  Townsendf 
  showed 
  that 
  the 
  gases 
  obtained 
  by 
  

   electrolysis 
  of 
  concentrated 
  aqueous 
  solutions 
  of 
  

   potassium 
  hydroxide 
  and 
  of 
  sulphuric 
  acid 
  contain 
  charged 
  

   particles 
  which 
  serve 
  as 
  nuclei 
  for 
  the 
  formation 
  of 
  mist. 
  

  

  * 
  Communicated 
  bv 
  the 
  Author. 
  

  

  t 
  Proc. 
  Camb. 
  Phil. 
  See. 
  ix. 
  1897, 
  pt. 
  v. 
  ; 
  Phil. 
  Mag. 
  [5] 
  xliv. 
  1898, 
  

   p. 
  125. 
  

  

  