Rollins — Cathode Stream and X-Light. 383 



He gave this as 20X10 8 to 40x10° c.g.s. units. As this ratio 

 is about three thousand times as large for a cathode stream 

 particle as for a hydrogen ion in electrolysis, this physicist 

 thought he must either assume a charge 3000 times as large, or 

 a mass 1/3000 of a hydrogen ion. He chose the latter and 

 other physicists have followed, though differing, some being 

 willing to allow a cathode stream particle to be as large as 

 1/500 of a hydrogen ion. There is no proof of these suppo- 

 sitions. Weichert might have had the same ratio mean some 

 other size for the particles. 



Kaufmann found that this ratio was not affected by the gas 

 or the terminals in a vacuum tube. I shall not quote author- 

 ities further, but group their statements to show what is called 

 a sufficient explanation of the cathode stream by those who 

 hold the material particle theory. 



1. The cause of the cathode stream is a repulsion between 

 the cathode and the charged particles of gas in the tube. This 

 repulsion is due to the particles coming in contact with the 

 cathode receiving charges of the same nature. 



2. The particles are given off from the cathode perpendicu- 

 larly to its surface, and move in straight lines, coming to a 

 focus at the center of curvature of the cathode. 



3. The direction of the particles in high vacua is independent 

 of the position of the anode. 



1. All the cathode stream particles move with equal speed, 

 which is of the same order as that of light ; they have the 

 same charge ; are of the same size. 



5. In the cathode stream the charges are always carried by 

 the same particles in all tubes, with any gas, with every cathode. 



6. The cathode stream particles are the same in every atom 

 in the universe. They are the ultimate particles of electricity. 



1. In the cathode stream only one particle is detached from 

 an atom. The remaining part has a positive charge. 



8. The particles in the cathode stream are those liberated by 

 ultra-violet light from a charged body ; move with the same 

 speed ; have the same charge. 



9. The particles in the cathode stream are those producing 

 Becquerel light. 



10. The particles in the cathode stream are the ultimate 

 units from which the elements are formed. Each has a mass 

 of 1/3000 of a hydrogen atom. 



I shall now mention some of the experiments with X-light 

 tubes which I have described in the Electrical Review during 

 the last three years, grouping them under the headings given : 



1. The cathode stream is a purely material particle phe- 

 nomenon, with which the ether has no part. The sole cause of 



