of Organic Bodies, at very Low Temperatures. 263 



in frequency which hardly affects the value of the dielectric con- 

 stant of water is sufficient to greatly decrease that of ethylic 

 alcohol, and at the same frequency the dielectric constant of 

 ethylic alcohol was found by Lampa to have fallen to a value of 5. 

 Hence ethylic alcohol is more sensitive to change of frequency than 

 water. There is, therefore, no a priori reason why we might not 

 expect to find the same thing even in a much greater degree in 

 certain other bodies at lower temperatures, viz., a true high 

 dielectric value for a certain frequency, but great sensitiveness to 

 increase of frequency in such fashion that increase of frequency 

 greatly reduces the dielectric value. At the present stage of the 

 enquiry it seems undesirable to endeavour to regard the facts wholly 

 from the point of view of one hypothesis as to the nature of elec- 

 trolysis. 



We have again to mention with pleasure the assistance we con- 

 tinue to receive from Mr. J. E. Petavel in the observational part of 

 these investigations. 



Note added December 8, 1897. Received December 9, 1897. 



Since the above paper was printed we have repeated some of our 

 former experiments with the 5 per cent, solution of rubidic hydrate 

 and the 5 per cent, solution of potassic hydrate, using the original 

 method in which a condenser having the frozen electrolyte as 

 dielectric is charged and discharged through a galvanometer, but 

 employing much higher charging voltages. The object of these 

 experiments was to apply a further test as to the validity of 

 the contention put forward by R. Abegg, that we have obtained high 

 dielectric values for certain of these frozen electrolytes in con- 

 sequence of having invariably used an electromotive force of 1*434 

 volts in the experiments with these particular substances. In order 

 to be able to work with larger electromotive forces we arranged three 

 galvanometers of the Holden d' Arson val type otherwise exactly 

 similar, except in having different sensibilities and resistances. One 

 was the 500-ohm galvanometer used in all our previous condenser 

 experiments, another was a 100-ohm coil galvanometer, and a third 

 was a 4-ohm coil galvanometer. These were used at the same dis- 

 tance (125 cm.) from the scale as formerly. An approximate test 

 for the relative sensibility of these galvanometers was made by 

 placing a Clark standard cell in series with each galvanometer 

 through 100,000 ohms and noting the scale deflection produced. As 

 the internal resistance of the galvanometers was at most only -J- per 

 cent, of the total resistance these scale deflections may be considered 

 to be approximately produced by the same current. The scale deflec- 

 tions in centimetres were — 



