regarded as Compounds of the First Order. 455 



adjacent cubes having a common face owing to the sharing 

 of four electrons by the middle nitrogen kernel with each of 

 the others. This formula may be compared with the formula 

 for the hexammine-hexol-tricobaltic salts (4) (Werner, loc. 

 cit. p. 298), in which the complex contains three octahedra 

 arranged in a line, adjacent octahedra having a common 

 face owing to the sharing of three hydroxvl groups by the 

 middle cobalt atom with each of the others. 



/ \ 



NH 3 OH* OH NH 3 

 NH 3 Co OH Co OH C0NH3 

 NH 3 OH OH NH 3 



\ ,.. y 



4 



IP 



E 



E E E 



E E E 



N 



e s ^ 



,E 



E E 



(3) 



E 

 E 



X 3 . 



(4) 



Trans. Chem. Soc. cxv. 



Similarly, a non-polar compound such as a molecule of 



fluorine (EgF^EsF^Eg) corresponds to a complex poly-nuclear 



non-electrolyte like 1, l',2-2' trichromato-octammine dicobnlt 



/4NH 3 , , n n n 4NEL\ 



I fi (\ CoCr0 4 Co n f, 6 ) sj> . 



\(;r0 4 Cr0 4 / (Brig 



p. 73 (1919)). 



In the fluorine molecule the fluorine kernels are at the 

 centres of cubes with a common edge owing to the sharing 

 of electrons ; in the cobalt compound the cobalt atoms are 

 at the centres of two octahedra with a common vertex, owing 

 to the sharing of a chromate radicle by the cobalt atoms. 



The above considerations show that octet formation is 

 really a type of co-ordination, and the fundamental character 

 of Werner's conception of co-ordination is thereby greatly 

 emphasized. 



Conclusion. 



It has been demonstrated in the above paper, that if we 

 regard the elements as compounds of the atomic kernels and 

 electrons, then their reactions with each other are precisely 

 analogous to the reactions between binary compounds. 

 There is therefore no essential difference between the forces 

 which hold the atoms together in a compound, and those 

 which hold the kernels and electrons together in an sitom. 

 Consequently, if we accept the theories of Rutherford, Lewis, 

 and Langmuir regarding the structure of atoms, the following 

 conclusions would appear to be inevitable : — 



(1) There are only two elements, Sir Ernest Rutherford's 

 proton (hydrion) and electron. 



(2) The atomic kernels are compound radicles of proton 



