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374 ff. A. Hill—WNotes on Argon and Helium. 
Lord Rayleigh, in his lecture before the Royal Institution 
(Nature, lii, 159-164) refers to the tendency of ozone O* to go 
slowly back to O*, the normal type. But Bedson and Shaw 
(Chem. News, July 26, 1895, p. 48) have shown that the nitro- 
gen contained in the natural crystals of rock salt contains the 
same proportion of argon as does atmospheric nitrogen, so that 
in a period of perhaps thousands of years there has been no 
tendency for argon to become N’, hence the inference that 
argon is not N*. Schild has pointed out (Chem. News, May 
31, 1894, p. 259) that if argon is N*, then any argon compound,, 
when decomposed, should yield nitrogen, the normal, instead 
of argon, the allotropic form. Now Berthelot has shown (Chem. 
News, July 5, 1895, p. 1) that the analysis of the resinous com- 
pound of argon and carbon disulphide yields argon, not nitro- 
gen, which makes strongly against the N* theory. 
In line with this are the experiments of Peratoner and 
Oddo, mentioned by Meldola (Pres. Address, Nature Sept. 
12, 1893, p. 483). They recently obtained nitrogen, not argon, 
from the electrolysis of hydrazoic acid and its salts, and they 
conclude that an allotropic form of nitrogen is impossible. 
Is argon a mixture ? 
Evidence grows stronger that it is; as to helium there is 
not much doubt, and if anything can be argued from the 
analogies between argon and helium, argon is a mixture like- _ 
wise. 
Says Prof. Ramsay (Nature, July 25, 1895, p. 333): At 
least two helium lines are coincident with one each of two 
pairs of characteristic argon lines, but not with equal brillianey, 
a faint argon line being identical with a prominent red helium 
line, and a strong red argon line with a faint red helium line ; 
and besides these two there is a line in the orange red, faint in 
helium, but moderately strong in argon, which is very close if 
not identical. 
Kayser’s recent measurements of the argon lines (Chem. 
News, Aug. 30, p. 99), though measured to one more decimal 
place, do not agree with those of Crookes. They may not be to 
the same scale, but Mr. Crookes found 26 lines common to 
both the red and the blue argon spectra, whereas Kayser states 
they have no lines in common so far as he can see. This 
seems to favor the view that the red and blue argon spectra 
denote different constituents in the gas. 
Helium proves much more insoluble in water than argon 
(1 vol. of water dissolves only 0073 of helium). It has been 
found by Kayser associated with argon in the gases of certain 
mineral springs in Germany, and has also been by him detected 
in the atmosphere. (Chem News, Aug. 238, 1895, p. 89.) Also 
by Ch. Bouchard, associated with argon and some other 
