Electric Origin of Rigedity and Consequences. A3T 
The form given to Cl, in this equation shows that the 
dissociation of Cl, into 2Cl, or of I, into 21 does not involve 
the production of ions, but. only of stions. Thus the vapour 
ot 1, containing free atoms I is not necessarily a conductor, 
nor is that of N,O,, and therefore the difficulty about Richarz’s 
application (Wied. Ann. lii.) of Helmholtz’s theory to the 
dissociation of NO, and of I, disappears, if we replace the 
electron of Helmholtz by the doublet. The doublet theory 
greatly simplifies the constitution of all the diatomic element 
molecules such as H, and N,, for it makes both atoms of the 
molecule similarly equipped, instead of making one positive 
and the other negative as the electron theory does. On the 
other hand, it is necessary to assign some reason why no more 
than two doublets should unite to form these molecules, and 
why the metal monatomic molecules retain their individualities. 
However, the chief difference that the doublet theory of 
valency faded when substituted for the electron theory is, that 
for every doublet which the electron theory would require 
on account of the attraction of opposite electrons, the doublet 
introduces an inner doublet whose electrons are very close 
togetker. Thus the graphical formulee pr oposed for water, 
NH,Cl, and PCl;, in ‘“ Ionization &c.,” are easily adapted 
to the doublet theory, which raises very nice problems of 
stable configurations in space of three dimensions analogous 
to those studied experimentally by Mayer and Wood (Phil. 
Mag. [5] xlvi.) for small magnets in a plane. In the 
electrical theory the molecule becomes similar to a multipolar 
dynamo ar mature. 
The doublet theory gives two PEC isomeric forms for 
NaCl, namely, pNaZpClZ and ZNabZCly. We can express 
the electropositive nature of Na and the electronegative of 
Cl] by stating that the latter of these forms is the only one 
that occurs. But the fact that an atom may be electropositive 
to a second atom and electronegative to a third can be simply 
expressed by formulze like those. just written. The ionization 
of NaCl may be described as the removai of the internal 
doublet from ZNayZCly by means of the solvent, and the 
separation of tia two parts $Na and Clb to such a distance 
that they cannot ee recombine. We may regard 
an ion like $Na as a stion {Nab with an added J which 
coincides with the 4 and Be iaticos it completely. The 
advantage of this method of regarding an ion is that it 
assigns to the jon the doublet ‘which gives the power of 
cohesion, and the ions in solution behave as though they take 
part in the cohesion of the solution. According to this view 
of the ion, it would be better to describe the ionization of 
