C. Barns — Ionization of Water Nuclei. 107 



The method consisted in testing the insulation of the con- 

 denser, immediately before and after the introduction of water 

 nuclei. The observations give the deflections, s, of the elec- 

 trometer in cms. after intervals of 1 min., \ min., and 1 min., 

 in each of the cases, respectively. The conduction, a=8(\og 

 s)/$i, is computed by assuming Ohm's law ; but in case of the 

 medium of water nuclei, it is seen at once that Ohm's law does 

 not apply, and that the conduction, a, increases enormously as 

 the charge on the condenser vanishes. The average value of 

 the conduction is quite of the order of values found for phos- 

 phorus nuclei elsewhere, under similar circumstances. As the 

 data in the table show a for successive minutes, its variation in 

 the last series is from *223 to *872 in 3 minutes. 



Since 2*3 aC = 1/i?, where O— 8/10" farads, is the capacity 

 of the condenser and appurtenances, the initial and final resist- 

 ance, B, would be 



It = 25 X 10 9 and R = 6 X 10 9 ohms. 



It follows then that if the equation of the current be taken, 

 or i — n( U+ V)e(E/l) in the usual notation, the number of 

 nuclei, n, increases as the potential difference, E, diminishes. 

 The same is true for the negative current with a smaller coeffi- 

 cient. 



These and other results for the conduction, a, become more 

 interesting if the electrometer deflections are charted graphi- 

 cally in relation to time as in the annexed figures 1, 2, 3. It 

 is thus seen that the current is surprisingly constant, while the 

 initial potential difference of about 20 or 40 volts gradually 

 quite vanishes. In explanation, one may suppose that the num- 

 ber of ionized nuclei varies inversely as the potential difference, 

 i. e., nE= const. 



It is apparently more simple, however, it seems to me, to 

 assume that the velocity of the nuclei is independent of the 

 potential gradient, each nucleus having its own specific velocity 

 in the presence or the absence of an electric field, while the 

 number of nuclei is practically constant, — the point of view 

 taken in my earlier work.* The different currents for positive 

 and negative charges in the condenser are then due to the 

 known excess of negative nuclear charges. This view is actu- 

 ally oroader (§§4, 14) than at first sight it seems, for it includes 

 the case in which the velocity of the nucleus and the velocity 

 of the ions or charges are the same function of the potential; 

 gradient in the condenser. 



4. Working Hypothesis and Constants. — Supposing that the 

 current is independent of the electromotive force of the con- 

 denser as just stated, and that k is the specific velocity of the 

 nuclei (due to unsymmetrical bombardment, as heretofore; 



* Experiments with ionized air, 1. c, chap, v, p. 69. 



