﻿20 
  Trowbridge 
  and 
  Richards 
  — 
  The 
  Spectra 
  of 
  Argon. 
  

  

  rectional 
  discharges. 
  The 
  change 
  of 
  color 
  in 
  the 
  tube 
  from 
  

   red 
  to 
  blue 
  is 
  so 
  marked 
  that 
  an 
  argon 
  tube 
  reveals 
  what 
  is 
  not 
  

   shown 
  in 
  a 
  conspicuous 
  manner 
  by 
  other 
  gases. 
  We 
  have 
  

   thought 
  that 
  this 
  remarkable 
  property 
  of 
  an 
  argon 
  tube 
  is 
  

   worthy 
  of 
  being 
  distinguished 
  by 
  a 
  name 
  which 
  might 
  describe 
  

   it 
  and 
  we 
  have, 
  therefore, 
  called 
  an 
  argon 
  tube 
  fitted 
  for 
  the 
  

   study 
  of 
  electrical 
  waves 
  a 
  talantoscope 
  (raXavTcoo-is). 
  

  

  In 
  an 
  oscillatory 
  discharge 
  the 
  molecules 
  receive 
  powerful 
  

   electrical 
  impulses 
  of 
  opposite 
  sign. 
  These 
  impulses 
  are 
  sepa- 
  

   rated, 
  it 
  may 
  be, 
  by 
  millionths 
  of 
  a 
  second. 
  It 
  is 
  significant 
  

   that 
  the 
  shorter 
  wave 
  lengths 
  of 
  light 
  accompany 
  these 
  

   electrical 
  oscillations. 
  It 
  is 
  our 
  purpose 
  to 
  extend 
  our 
  study 
  

   of 
  the 
  effect 
  of 
  electrical 
  oscillations 
  through 
  more 
  highly 
  

   rarified 
  media 
  in 
  which 
  arise 
  the 
  Rontgen 
  rays. 
  These 
  rays 
  

   are 
  probably 
  highly 
  modified 
  by 
  the 
  oscillatory 
  discharge. 
  A 
  

   battery 
  of 
  a 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  cells 
  now 
  at 
  our 
  command 
  will 
  

   afford 
  the 
  best 
  means 
  of 
  studying 
  this 
  subject 
  : 
  for 
  its 
  dis- 
  

   charges, 
  as 
  we 
  have 
  pointed 
  out, 
  are 
  free 
  from 
  the 
  fluctuating 
  

   effects 
  produced 
  by 
  induction 
  coils, 
  transformers 
  and 
  electrical 
  

   machines. 
  Our 
  present 
  paper 
  is, 
  therefore, 
  only 
  preliminary 
  

   to 
  a 
  more 
  exhaustive 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  discharges 
  of 
  electricity 
  

   through 
  rarified 
  gases, 
  by 
  means 
  of 
  a 
  storage 
  battery 
  of 
  ten 
  

   thousand 
  cells, 
  which 
  will 
  give 
  an 
  electromotive 
  force 
  of 
  about 
  

   twenty 
  thousand 
  volts. 
  

  

  Harvard 
  University, 
  Dec. 
  1st, 
  1896. 
  

  

  